The Seventh Lieutenant
by Varyssa
Summary: Charting Kain's complete rule from beginning to end and beyond through the eyes of his unknown firstborn. Chapter 27 up. Please r n r x
1. Megara

Chapter 1 – Megara

Raziel pulled his sword from the dead vampire; sliding it easily from its bloody chest. The warrior stepped aside and let his kinsman, Turel impale the defeated parasite upon the spear. With Raziel's help they drove the spear into the ground and left the vampire to suspend there, amongst the other corpses that lined the country roads.

"Lord Moebius will be pleased," Turel muttered as they stepped back, watching the vampire slip down the spear, his life ebbing slowly and painfully away from him. Raziel removed his helmet and scanned the line of fresh bodies among the many of old, an approving smile escaped him and he stepped back with his brother.

"Come," Raziel invited, "We have done enough today." He clapped his brother-in-arms on his armoured shoulder and led the way back to the main Sarafan stronghold.

Their fellow comrades Dumah and Melchiah were waiting for them at the entrance.

"Good hunting?" Dumah asked, running a finger, leisurely over the edge of his own blade. Raziel and Turel nodded in unison,

"You would have enjoyed it, Dumah," Turel told him, "Another nest destroyed. There won't be many left along that road now." Dumah and Melchiah nodded their approval,

"Where is Rahab?" Raziel inquired. Dumah sighed,

"Called to Vasserbunde again I shouldn't wonder, they are having a lot of trouble lately." Melchiah nodded in agreement,

"Maybe we should send another unit, Raziel?" Turel suggested, Raziel, however shook his head,

"Not unless Rahab feels they need it. We must..."

"Raziel! Raziel!" The Sarafan priest was cut short by shouts from the interior. The warrior Zephon was hurrying towards them, his face contorted with concern, "Raziel, I've been looking for you!" Raziel frowned upon his comrade,

"What is it?" he asked. Zephon paused to take a few panting breaths,

"It's the lady Miyai," he said urgently. All of the fellow hunters fell silent as their leader looked up at Zephon, quickly,

"What about her?" he asked, dangerously quiet. Zephon's face broke into a smile,

"She has had the baby, Raziel." Raziel took a sharp intake of breath as his brother reassured him his words were true. Raziel took off at almost a sprint, sweeping through the keep up to the halls where he and the other highest order of Sarafan priests resided.

Outside of his bedchamber was a small gathering of maids and some lesser warriors. They all parted as Raziel approached, most of them nodding happily at him, others gazing at him with contented smiles, some murmuring words of comfort in a hushed reverence as their leader pushed past them and entered the room.

The main focus of attention was the large bed that occupied a significant portion of the room. Maids surrounded it, shielding the occupant from view until Raziel pushed his way through them and laid his eyes on the sight before him.

A young woman was sitting up in bed, her lower body covered by the silk sheets. Her long, brown hair was loose and tangled, laced with sweat, hanging over one shoulder. She kept her eyes half closed as she looked down upon the bundle of blankets she cradled in her arms; she was humming a soft song, under her breath, rocking her new born baby to sleep.

She looked up at Raziel and her light eyes flashed with happiness and excitement, "Raziel!" she said, happily, "We have a daughter!"

Raziel looked at the pair in disbelief, collapsing onto the bed beside his wife as the surrounding maids made pleasant, muttering comments about the newborn. Miyai held out the baby to her husband and settled her in his arms.

Raziel looked down at the child. "She looks just like you, lord Raziel," one of the maids said, warmly. Raziel could only smile, rendered speechless by the sheer magnitude of the moment he found himself in.

The girl was so perfect. She resembled Raziel greatly; hair, eyes, features, everything about her told the world who her father was. The baby stirred and opened her tiny eyes, looking straight up at the warrior priest. He beamed down on her as she just stared,

"Hello," he managed to whisper, his voice choking with emotion, "I'm your father." The girl shifted and closed her eyes, sleeping once again, "Welcome to the world," he continued, even though the child slept, "Megara."

TBC


	2. The Wraith

Chapter 2 – The Wraith

_17 years later_

"Why not?!" Megara's defiant voice rang through the chamber. Turel, Dumah and Rahab edged away from another argument between father and daughter.

"Because you're a woman!" Raziel snapped. Megara flicked her long, dark hair from her eyes and glared at her father.

"_So_?!" she demanded. Raziel sighed and started massaging his temple.

"Megara we've been through this a hundred times already. You cannot enter the ranks of the priesthood. You're a woman and besides you're too young!"

"I'm a better warrior than you and my magic is stronger than any of the sorceresses!"

"Then join the ranks of the female warriors!" Raziel spat. Megara looked up, disgusted that her father would dare suggest such a thing.

"I'm better than that," she snarled, sweeping from his presence, almost knocking Turel and Dumah off their feet as she stormed past them.

Raziel let out a long, frustrated cry of anger before he left in the opposite direction. He should have known this was waiting for him when he returned home. Megara had made it perfectly clear that she wanted to be with them when the Sarafan brothers launched their attack against Janos, now they had returned with the beast's foul black heart and she had not been a part of it.

Megara had wanted to join her father's ranks for the longest time, though he kept forbidding it. Ever since her mother had died at the hands of a demon, he had been exceptionally overprotective of her. She spoke truly though, she was a better fighter than him and he knew it. She seemed to have inherited her virtues from each of the warrior priests. She had her father's looks, Turel's loyalty, Dumah's strength, Rahab's courage, Zephon's speed and Melchiah's humility. And of course she had inherited sorceress powers from her mother which had been nurtured into a powerful magical force with the help of the sorceresses in the hold. Her inevitable hatred of the vampires was deepened when one of their vile brood took the life of her mother had made her recognized as one of the elite Sarafan brotherhood even though her father forbade her to enter their ranks.

Megara left the safety of the Sarafan halls and breathed in the fresh, fragrant air around her. The priests and priestesses inclined their heads out of respect for their leader's daughter. She collapsed beside the frozen lake and admired its beauty, ignoring all those around her.

She leaned over and looked onto the thick sheet of ice that covered the waters. Her reflection smiled, sadly back at her. She studied herself in the natural mirror, brushing her hair back and appreciating just how much like her father she looked. She bore striking resemblance to him, inheriting no features from her mother. Most of the time she was proud to look like such a great man, but after yet another argument with him, she hated it.

Unsheathing her sword swiftly she plunged it into the ice, shattering the ice and sending cracks across the frozen lake. She looked back on the mirror, her reflection fractured so she saw a dozen eyes staring back at her. She smiled; a definite improvement.

Something appeared in the reflection behind her. A dozen pairs of fiercely burning eyes glaring angrily at her. She didn't look back to look at her attacker, instead she flipped herself over the sword hilt embedded in the ice, narrowly avoiding a vicious assault from a burning energy blade.

She rose up, taking the sword out of the ice with her and studied her attacker.

"What are you, demon?" she whispered, not recognizing the figure before her. It wasn't a vampire. It had tight blue skin that rippled over it's muscles, no means of clothing save for a filthy cloth wrapped around it's jaw. It had no eyes, just two sockets burning with energy and it was it's eyes that revealed it's emotions and right now it was furious.

It didn't answer, instead swiping at her with the energy blade that coiled around it's arm. She easily ducked it and held her own sword up to face him, "back to hell with you," she cried, lunging forward. He swept past her and caught her off balance, taking the opportunity to impale her on his blade, whatever manner of blade it was.

"You know nothing of hell," he whispered in a distinctly familiar voice. She had no time to ponder or think on how she knew that voice, her life was ebbing away. He pulled his blade from her and it vanished, inexplicably as she crashed against the cold ice, unable to fight the feeling of indescribable peace and bliss that was flooding her body. There was no more pain, no more loss, no more arguments with her father, just this feeling of contentment that would carry her soul forever.

TBC


	3. Awakening

Chapter 3 – Awakening (there's an original title for you).

(Kain)

Megara was my first.

As I stole into the chamber housing the long dead Sarafan priests, I knelt beside the coffin made for the strongest of the knights; Raziel. I was on the verge of sliding the sarcophagus lid off when a thought dawned on me. Raziel was to be my first born, the strongest of my children, but...I didn't know if I could bring him back. He had been dead for so long, his body decomposed almost to dust, there was no guarantee I could make him a vampire. I had never made a conventional vampire, let alone one from a body that had been rotting for centuries.

And so I made Meg. An experiment, a test piece if you would, to see if I _could_ bring the Sarafan back from their afterlife, if there was such a thing. Of course the answer is now obvious- I could.

I left the main Sarafan chamber and found myself in a side chamber with a single sarcophagus, the name _'Megara'_ emblazoned above it. With the exception of the Sarafan priests, hers was the only body contained herein. At the time, I don't think I considered actually what kind of life I was prepared to give her. All my plans had involved six sons at my side, I had never conceived the thought there might be another. But those thoughts never entered my mind and I proceeded to open Megara's coffin.

The body inside could hardly be called a body. The skeleton inside was almost reduced to dust. If I had touched her directly, her remains would probably have disintegrated completely. Instead I held one of my hands over her forehead, focusing everything on calling her soul. I don't know how long I sat there, trying to summon her spirit before I finally sat back and relaxed, perhaps preparing to make another attempt, perhaps to give up for the night. I dropped beside the coffin, regaining my composure when I saw a swirling green energy appear from nowhere and rested on the warrior's body. It pressed against her, moving through the delicate bones and vanished inside her.

Filled with renewed hope, I held my hand over her forehead once again and this time I concentrated completely on restoring her body to the figure it had once been. I grew lightheaded and I must have lost consciousness for when I woke, I was collapsed against the sarcophagus, one arm hooked over the edge, dangling freely inside it. I used this arm to pull myself up and gazed upon the person inside.

A young woman was unconscious inside. Her body was human again; her skin was paler than normal, but considering she had been dead for centuries that was of no surprise. Her dark hair was surprisingly short and formed stark contrast with her deathly white skin.

I lifted her up into my arms and attempted to carry her from the crypt. I didn't get very far before my strength wavered and my legs buckled. I stumbled and in that briefest of moments I actually found myself more concerned for the woman I held's safety than for my own weakness.

Somehow I managed to carry her far from the crypt and into the mansion I had taken residence in. The owners wouldn't mind, they had met with an untimely demise and the servants all dismissed. I lay the warrior I was carrying onto a bed and prepared to turn her from the human she was to the vampire she was to become.

I studied that porcelain face and realized I would need blood if I was to sustain myself while I changed her. There was also the blood I needed to recover from my ordeal in the crypt.

I descended to the streets and killed two unfortunate beggars who happened to cross my path. With their hot blood coursing through my body, I returned to my sleeping human and sat beside her. Driving my fangs into the throbbing vein, I lowered my bleeding wrist to her slightly parted lips and allowed the liquid flow down her throat and give her body new life.

Her body convulsed and twitched as though she were having some kind of fit. Her mouth opened as her still unconscious body panted and gasped for breath, sucking it between her newly formed fangs. She spluttered and made incoherent gasping noises until the convulsing stopped and she collapsed, back onto the silken sheets, motionless and lifeless.

I cradled my healing wrist, and my heart sunk in my body. She wasn't moving, after all my trials and effort I had failed. Megara was a lifeless corpse once more and I had no idea how I may revive her father and his brethren. I was giving up hope when she twitched once more and her eyes flickered open, for a moment they were piercing blue, but after a single blink they became golden yellow like my own.

Her arms reached out wildly until one hand grasped one of my arms, using it to pull herself, shakily up. She fell forward into my arms, but managed to look up at me.

"Who...who am I?" she asked.

"Megara," I said, simply, "and I am Kain." Behind her eyes I could see her taking in what I had told her and she nodded appreciatively, as I added, "you are mine."

TBC


	4. Life

Chapter 4 – Life

(Megara)

From the moment I opened my eyes and stared into his, I was aware of the indestructible bond that united us, the bond that tied us together.

When I first awoke it was a state of confusion. I remember being in a peaceful place, a place without pain or suffering, without discomfort...just floating...blissfully floating. Time didn't exist there, I didn't know how long I had been there, then again I didn't even know who or what I was. But I wasn't afraid. There was nothing to harm me, there was nothing period. I was just...there.

Then in one wrenching movement I felt pain. My surroundings flickered, I was in a room, I was in that place, the room, that place, on and off, on and off as my body fought to exist in a single realm. Part of me wanted to stay in that peaceful place, the realm I was being drawn to hurt, where I had been there was no hurt.

I couldn't understand what was happening. A hot liquid was being poured down my throat setting my whole body alight. It lessened the pain, but not by much. I could feel myself moving, but I wasn't in control so I just lay there, my limbs going wild in every direction.

I fell still. For a while I just lay there, fully aware that I was lying on a soft bed. It took a while, but a burning sensation in my chest made me realise I wasn't breathing. My eyes snapped open and I bolted upright, my arms found something to hold and I used it to pull myself up, panting and gasping for breath, grateful for every gulp. When I my breathing returned to normal, I could look around with new vision.

The colours of the world were so much sharper than they had been in that peaceful place. The room itself was dark, but I found I could see perfectly. I could see him.

Kain. The first thing he told me was our names. I was Megara, though he never called me that. I was always Meg. He was Kain. The rest of his children and their children would always address him as 'my lord,' 'master,' or 'sire.' Only I called him by his name.

When I first woke, he explained what I was. He told me I was a vampire, though he only ever used that word this one time. It was a human word, preceded by curses that showed us just how much they hated us.

I was only one day when he taught me how to kill. The night before I had been sustained on his blood alone, but the effort of bringing me to him had exhausted him, so he decided to take me into the streets so I should learn how to hunt.

He taught me well, though somehow I instinctively knew how to kill. After we had hunted for the night he taught me that the humans were our enemy and that we would conquer the land and bring it under vampire rule, his rule. Though there were only two of us, he promised he would bring more and that when he had the power he needed, we could begin our crusade. Nosgoth would be ours again.

TBC


	5. Fledgeling

Chapter 5 – Fledgling

Megara sat, perched upon the rooftops. She was watching a lone hunter. She had seen him earlier with a small group of his comrades, but now they had all separated to keep the streets secure, leaving him completely alone. He must have been new to the force, there was something about the way he held his weapon, the way he carried himself as if he were unsure of himself and his duty. Megara smiled to herself, she would have fun with this one.

The sun moved in the sky and she was forced to move out of it's rays. It wasn't yet dusk, the sun was just setting in the sky. She was still young, a fledgling and the sun still hurt her. She could withstand it's fainter rays, but they still caused discomfort and yet here she was hunting and playing with her prey before the sun had set and the more comfortable shadows swept across the town.

The greater threat lay in the mansion where she now resided. Kain slept the daylight hours away, restoring his strength for their night-time pursuits. By rights Megara was expected to do the same, to the point where Kain had forbidden her to leave the mansion during the day, unless of course he were with he, should any harm befall her.

**(Megara)**

I shuddered when I thought of what Kain would say…or what he would do if he ever found out that I disobeyed him and came hunting on my own. I was surprised that I had managed to get away with it in the first place. Kain always seems to know everything and yet there I was sneaking out and back, returning to my room before he woke and he remains none the wiser.

I hated the rules that I had to remain with him until I was old enough to go out on my own. I could fight and defend myself. I knew where I would be able to hunt without a great deal of attention being brought to myself. I knew where I should avoid and what I should avoid. He made these things clear to me when he took me out for the first time.

I shifted my position upon the rooftops as the watchman slipped down an alley.

"Perfect," I whispered under my breath. The alley was cool and dark as I dropped down into it, keeping myself pressed against the wall. If he'd turned around he probably would have seen me, it was still fairly light. I think that was what made it more thrilling, the fact that I wasn't concealed in the darkness, making the hunt that much more difficult. He was still a distance ahead of me, so he remained unaware of my presence. I slipped after him, drawing my dagger, silently as I stepped, lightly toward him.

At the last minute I tapped his shoulder, just so I'd get a little fight before I was forced to return to the mansion. He spun around, his eyes widened when he saw what I was. Kain had already told me there were little or no vampires aside from ourselves, we had the element of surprise always on our side.

It was hardly an advantage in this case. The man was so young and such a newcomer to his blade I could have taken him on if he'd seen me coming a mile off. It didn't take long for me to defeat him, quickly and quietly so he didn't attract others. I let his body fall, though I refused to feed. If I did, it would make it glaringly obvious to Kain that I had disobeyed him. My evening hunts were more for the sport than the need. I knew Kain would be even more annoyed if he knew I killed the watchmen and spared their blood. He preferred us to kill for the feed, though he was known to kill the odd human there and there if they got in his way or did something he didn't like, women who pointed never lasted long.

I replaced my dagger and examined the body, searching for anything interesting. A blow to the back caught me off guard and I was thrown against the alley wall, hitting the stone hard. I winced and slid down the wall, reaching for my dagger as I studied my attacker, one of the group that my victim had left earlier. There was nothing novice about this warrior. Unlike his fallen comrade it was obvious he had faced my kind before, and he had obviously seen many of us die beneath his blade.

I rolled to the side to dodge the blade of the man's sword. The loud 'clang' it made as it crashed into the wall where my head had seconds ago been, resonated in my ears. Before I could even try to raise my dagger, it was kicked from my hand. If I hadn't had been suddenly fearful for my life, I know I would have been totally humiliated that I had been rendered defenceless so easily. I would have dodged the oncoming blows easily, until I could run into the approaching night, but he held me fast, raising his sword to strike. Closing my eyes, awaiting the fatal blow I made a silent apology to my sire. A loud snap rang through the alley and I opened my eyes to see where it had come from. I was sure it hadn't originated from me.

The man slumped forward and dropped to the ground, neck broken. My eyes wandered up from the body to the figure of my sire standing behind him, glaring at me.

"And that is why I told you not to go out on your own."

I refused his hand, offered to me to help me rise, indignant I rose myself and snapped back at him,

"I was alright these past few nights." It was hard to tell whether he was furious, angry, annoyed or simply irritated by my brazen attitude, he never did let on exactly what he was feeling, not even to me. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned,

"I know, I watched you in case something like that," he jerked his head toward the superior warrior, "happened." I should have been grateful that he had saved my life and apologetic that I dared to disobey him, but all I could feel was fury toward the fact that in spite of all my vampiric powers and superiority to these human weaklings, he treated me like I were a child in need of protection. Granted by our regard I was, I was just a fledgling, but I hardly saw it that way at the time.

"I would have been alright," I protested, though, I knew that he had saved my life.

"I'm sure," he muttered. He opened his mouth to speak but I interrupted in my fury,

"I can take care of myself," I snapped. I stood my ground, even though the look he gave me would have forced stronger men than me to flee. He narrowed his eyes and fixed them on me, unfolding his arms, he had already lost patience with me, he never did have much patience in the beginning.

"Is that so?" he asked, dangerously, "we shall see." I watched, expecting him to draw the Reaver from his back and challenge me, to strike out at me, but he didn't do anything like that. Instead he put his hands together and assumed the bat form, leaving me alone in the now darkened alley. I shrank back, thrown by his reaction. I could have dealt with his rage, I was familiar with it, but not with this.

I decided I would return to the mansion, and once I had fed from the man he had defeated, I began my journey. It took longer than it ever had before, on the way all I could think about was what I could say to him, rest assured I probably wouldn't have backed down. I was just as stubborn as he was. My rehearsals were in vain. I returned to the mansion, but Kain was nowhere to be seen. He didn't return that night, I waited into the dawn, but he still didn't return.

TBC


	6. Kain's Madness

Chapter 6 – Kain's Madness

**(Kain)**

I couldn't abandon her. In my anger I had no intention of returning to her, but when I saw her hunting I couldn't help but watch. Part of me was irritated that my attempt to teach her that she was just a fledgling had failed, but part of me was proud to see that even after just a few months she could hunt and kill so effectively and with the exception of the night I intervened she worked perfectly.

She found me after just a few weeks, I had been surrounded by a group of warriors and even though I could have defeated them, it would have taken me into the dawn, something she knew I hated. So she interrupted and together we defeated them all.

That night I went back to the mansion with her. There was no need for words between us and we sank back into our lives, without ever mentioning the incident again.

**(Megara)**

When I saw him in the midst of the warriors I couldn't help but intervene. Even if he had rejected me afterwards, but I knew if he were to fight them all his eventual victory would have taken him into the morning. He always liked to be home before the sun rose, preferring the power we drew from the night. When he returned with me to the mansion, a wave of happiness washed over me. Once again, I could wake up in the room beside him, I could hunt alongside him, I would often read by the fire and feel enormously comforted as he sat in his seat behind me, watching me or reading for himself.

Sometime later, however he told me he was going into the world for a while, I was not to accompany or follow him. I was surprised, we had grown so close as a father and daughter should, I was hardly expecting him to abandon me. But leave he did, leaving me to my own devices. The days passed slowly and even though he was only gone for a week or so, it felt like a year.

When he returned to the mansion he was obviously distracted. He would sit on the balcony for hours, in silence looking over the city that lay before us. I would often join him and sit at the other side of the balcony, allowing him the space he desired.

From here we could watch the world go by. We could see the humans lead their short lives, occupied in menial tasks that kept them going from one day to the next. But he still looked upon them with an air of distraction. It bothered me that he wouldn't tell me what was bothering him, he kept it to himself and to me it felt like there was a gulf between us. Nothing I could do or say would let him open up to me and I felt the pain more keenly than any other.

The months passed like this. I would wake to find him in his distracted trance watching the humans, always watching them. Some days he would get so wrapped up in the comings and goings of the world he wouldn't move from his space on the terrace and I would have to bring victims back to the mansion for him to feed. After a while he began scribbling madly on papers, writings and drawings he kept hidden from me. By now I had given up on reaching him, it seemed he had forgotten me entirely despite our close proximity to eachother. He no longer spoke to me, instead he muttered softly and incoherently under his breath as he worked madly on the secret papers. He no longer noticed that I was going out day and night to hunt, breaking the fundamental rule he had laid down. I could have left him at any time and I doubt he would have noticed, at times I often thought of leaving, to find a companion who would take some kind of notice of me, and yet I was still drawn to that feeling I had felt upon my awakening. That indestructible bond that no amount of silence could destroy.

One day, I woke and the space he usually occupied was void of his presence. I sat up in the bed to find him sitting beside me. His eyes were flashing with a kind of excitement. I pushed myself up on my elbows, somewhat relieved that he had left the balcony. He brushed my tousled hair out of my eyes and beckoned to the end of the bed. He had lain the papers he had been so desperately working on for so long. There were more papers than I would ever have ever given him credit for. Some of them had been bound together to form small books, all of them had been put into some order, most of them were numbered. I brought my legs up to my chest as he showed me what he had been working on.

His writing, which was usually so perfect and legible was nothing more than an untidy scrawl in most places, seeing as he had rushed the majority of his work. I could hardly read what he had written but the pictures told me what he wanted to do. There were sketches, rushed but still exceptional of buildings, of a throne amongst the pillars, of his empire. This is what he had been so consumed by; his empire.

I brushed my fingers lightly over the pictures and squinted to read what he had written. I could make out figures, numbers of soldiers in towns, the defences of cities as well as the usual populace figures. I scanned the writings and met his eyes. He was looking down on me, eagerly. Rarely did he show emotion and he certainly didn't get excited about anything. I smiled back at him,

"You mean to rise your empire," I muttered, thinking of the times he had told me upon my awakening about all the things he meant to do in the world. He nodded,

"We will take our place as the superior form of life," he told me, looking fondly upon the sketch of the throne, "but we cannot do it with just the two of us," he sighed. I looked up at him, hesitantly,

"Do I have the power to pass on the life you've given me?" I asked, softly, under my breath, looking away. Kain shook his head,

"No, you are still too young," he assured me, "but you can help me raise the others."

TBC


	7. Raising Raziel

Chapter 7 – Raising Raziel

(Kain)

We spent a long time talking about what I meant to do. We would go to the crypt and raise the brethren before beginning our plans to take Nosgoth. During this time, we moved to a mansion that lay near the forest surrounding the pillars. It was Meg's gift to me. She had seen in my many plans that I would control my empire from the pillars. The corrupted pillar I represented would form my base of power and so she had murdered the family within the home, prepared the main chamber for me ensuring that I occupied the room from which you could behold the pillars emerging from the treetops. Of course since I had refused the sacrifice, they had been destroyed enough to not rise above the forest, but I could still make out the outline of the balance pillar still tall enough to cast shadows on the towering trees, providing a constant source of inspiration to me.

We talked long into the night, discussing what we could do…no…what we would do in the future. We complemented each other well. I could see a great future for Nosgoth with the human cattle brought to heel under their vampiric masters, Meg could envision each individual building and town, able to picture which cities my sons would claim and imagine travelling to each of them, marvelling at their beauty.

My enthusiasm for the future we would bring flowed in abundance and soon Meg began to share it, enjoying painting the sanctuary where I would stay, with the pillars as the crowning jewel.

One night, after I had hunted I returned to her to find her engrossed in another painting. Unlike her others, she was reluctant to let me see it. I managed to step into the doorway without her realising I was there, I watched her furious strokes as she worked on the canvas, but I couldn't make out what it was she was painting. I knew I couldn't move closer without her detecting my presence so I cleared my throat, alerting her.

She covered the painting immediately and turned to me with the affectionate smile I had grown so accustomed to.

"You're early," she smiled, following me out of her chamber, into my own. When we talked it was always in my chamber so we could marvel at the views before us.

"Kain?" she asked, her constant smile still etched on her face, "When will we go to the crypt you spoke of?"

I couldn't help but smile. At first she had listened to me talk at length at the great task before us and humoured me with conversation, now she was just as eager as I was.

"Soon," I muttered. Her smile didn't falter but I could sense her disappointment. I think she was looking forward to having another vampire in the house, another to share our plans and indeed play a big part of them.

"I've been thinking," she said, her eyes looking out of the window, admiring the scenery, "We've talked about what will happen when we have the strength and the numbers to begin setting the foundations of the empire. When the humans have been quelled and your sons spread out to claim the lands in our name, but…what will happen to me?" she asked.

(Megara)

I could feel his eyes frowning on me, as if he couldn't quite understand where the thought had come from, but it was something that had been bothering me for some time. Whenever we spoke it was always what his sons would be doing, how they would fan out and begin claiming the cities for themselves once we had settled at the pillars and the base of power was established. But I played no part in these plans. Was I to leave him and claim a city for myself, establish my own clan to rival those of my brethren? I hoped he wouldn't expect me to, truth be told. I had no desire to leave and sire vampires of my own. Maybe it was a fledgling's dependence on their master, but I couldn't imagine myself leaving him.

Whenever I thought of the future, I could see faceless vampires striving to do his bidding. I could see his sons moving out into the world and returning to seek their master's blessing and advice, but I could never see myself returning with them. I saw myself standing by him forever, helping him deal with the menial labours that came with being the lord of Nosgoth, I never wanted to leave him.

He paused for a long time before asking, "What would you like to do?"

I looked at him, he was regarding me with an odd expression, as if he didn't quite know what to say. I smirked and threw the ball back to his court,

"What would you like me to do?" I asked, mischievously. He smiled and I could tell that he was amused,

"I want you to do what makes you happy," he said. I snorted, again I didn't have my answer,

"Would you like me to go off into the world like the others or would you want me to stay with you?" I asked, finally. He brought one arm around me,

"I want you to be happy, I won't force you to leave and I won't ask you to stay, you do what you want to do."

(Kain)

She smiled, my answer had satisfied her. When I had pictured the empire before I raised her, she had never existed. I had no intention of ever having a daughter, but now I had her, I couldn't imagine the empire without her. As she hadn't been a part of my plans, she had greater freedom than any of my sons would ever have. They were being raised to serve me, they each had a specific purpose. They would go forth and conquer the lands in my name.

Meg could do as she wanted.

She could go with them into the world and claim her own land, or she could remain at the sanctuary. I didn't know which I would prefer her to do. It wouldn't have bothered me if she had left or if she had stayed. Although I did value her company and her presence, I wanted her to make her own decision whether she left me or not, I just wanted her to be happy.

We passed the rest of the night in a contented silence, losing ourselves in our visions of the future.

The following day, I woke to find Meg sitting by the window looking out over the forest. I looked over and saw the sun had just risen, I had slept just a few short hours and yet I felt completely refreshed.

"Have you slept at all?" I asked, pushing myself up on my elbows. She nodded,

"Yes, only for a little while though," she paused, she moved and sat on the end of the bed. "Did I wake you?" she asked, smiling.

Shaking my head I asked, "What are you doing here, so early?"

Meg looked at me with a wide smile, "I've been thinking, let's go to the crypt."

"Today?" I asked, mildly surprised. She nodded, enthusiastically,

"Why not?" she asked, taking my arm and pulling it like a child would, "We can go to the crypt, raise the brethren and we can out our plans in motion."

I thought for a moment, considering whether or not we could actually raise the first today. I already knew that I would not be able to raise all the brothers over a short period, the energy that I had used to revive Meg had not recovered quickly and sometimes I still felt fatigued from the effort. With experience I would probably grow more accustomed to the sensation, but I would still need to use considerable power to revive all six of the Sarafan knights. I could see the eagerness in her eyes, it seemed that she may have indeed become more enthusiastic than me after all.

Smiling at her, I eventually nodded, relenting to her demands. With a quiet sigh of delight, she threw her arms around me and kissed my cheek,

"Thank you," she smiled. I didn't know what she was thanking me for, but I didn't get the chance to ask her, she had already left the room, in a haste to leave.

I had just left my bed when I was gifted with a new idea. I could hear her waiting, impatiently in the hall, ready to get underway. I took my time selecting the garments I would wear for the task ahead and couldn't help but chuckle as I heard her get more and more impatient. Eventually, her patience reached it's limit and her childish call came,

"Kain? Hurry up," she whined. I laughed, but quietly enough so she didn't hear it. If anything her call spurred me to do the opposite of what she asked. I took my time selecting just what cloak I should wear, why I should wear it and would it match my other garments?

She managed to wait a while longer before I heard her footsteps on the stairs. She rushed up to find me, and she waited in the doorway, "What are you doing?" she demanded. I tried not to smile as I turned to her,

"I don't know which cloak to take," I sighed. Her face was a picture. She stared at me for a moment, as if she couldn't quiet believe me, then it dawned on her what I was doing and she smiled, her eyes narrowing as she moved to the wardrobe and studied the contents with me.

"Really?" she asked, in fake surprise, "Well let's see." She scanned the selection for a moment before selecting a plain, black travelling cloak and throwing it over me. I barely had time to adjust it before she grabbed my arm and pulled me from the room.

I chuckled and pulled my weight back, opposing her. She turned to me with a glare, at first refusing to play my game, but it didn't take long for her to relent and she tried to pull me to the door, with me pulling in the opposite direction.

(Megara)

I knew what he was trying to do. He was just trying to annoy me, I could see that my struggle to pull him away was amusing him. Undeterred, I continued my attempts to get him to reach the door before something else hit me. With a mischievous smirk I waited for him to throw his weight in the opposite direction before I released his arm and gave into laughter as he fell backwards, the force of his own superior strength working against him to throw him back into the main chamber he had just left.

I leaned against the staircase banister as I continued to laugh, I needed the support, the look on his face as he fell backwards was so funny, I couldn't help but give into hysterics.

He reappeared in the doorway a moment later, the bedcovers caught on his foot, consequently strewn across the floor. I laughed again, but he obviously didn't find it funny. Reaching out to me, I infuriated him further when I dodged out of his grasp, making him fall again. He pushed himself up and we gave in to a full chase around the house, before he eventually caught me and we both laughed the whole event off.

As we laughed, I realized that even though he would be the all powerful lord of Nosgoth, I would still be able to drive him to these moments of childish insanity. My role in his future Nosgoth became more apparent, I thought that I would probably be the only one he could have moments like these with. I doubted very much he would let himself be seen chasing his sons around the sanctuary. He would be the strong leader of the empire, I couldn't see him indulging in fun with those who served him…though the image was rather amusing.

After the laughter died down, I couldn't help but smile as I realized we had left the house and ended up in the front gardens. Laughing I turned to him,

"I knew I could get you out of the house," he glared at me causing me to laugh again, "So," I breathed, finally after the moment had passed, "Will you go with me to the crypt or do you want me to drag you? I assure you, I will."

(Kain)

"I don't doubt it," I muttered, annoyed that she was still smiling. She gave me a playful punch before running up the path, ready to get underway again. Knowing what would probably happen if I waited, I went after her…though I was tempted…

We arrived in the crypt a little after nightfall, we left in no particular hurry, enjoying the walk and tormenting any unfortunate person who happened to cross our path. As I stepped into the graveyard I remembered the journey I had made not so long ago to raise Meg and wondered how much different the experience would be with her by my side.

But she wasn't by my side.

I looked back to see her lagging a considerable way behind, "Meg?" I called. She was looking at the different stones and their names, she looked up at the sound of her name. She tried to smile but she looked as if she were about to be sick.

(Megara)  
I left the stone I was reading and hurried to Kain's side. He was looking at me concerned, so I smiled to put him at ease. The truth was I felt like I wanted to pass out and couldn't understand how he didn't feel the same. The smell was disgusting. Hundreds of rotting corpses lay under our feet and my vampiric senses could smell every single one, nauseatingly strong.

He put his arm around me to lead me into the main crypt, where the Sarafan brethren were housed. I was eager to leave the graveyard and enter sanctuary away from the disgusting smell that lingered all around us. He felt it too, I'm sure. Every now and then he would wrinkle his nose in disgust and other times he would look away, burying his face in the sleeve of his cloak until the moment had passed.

The air cleared as we neared the crypt. The closer we got to the resting place, the less bodies we found. It seemed only the best warriors could be buried so close to their martyrs, there were few graves scattered about.

The crypt itself was bigger than I imagined. It looked like it had once been a magnificent monument, but now it had fallen into disrepair and dereliction. The stone was dirty and crumbling away. Statues of warriors that surrounded the crypt were falling apart, bits of them lying at their decaying feet, while their ruined faces stared blankly ahead.

We paused at the iron gates, I expected them to be locked, but the lock had already been broken and Kain pushed the gates open easily. We stepped in, Kain had already moved far ahead, as I took my time, admiring the burial ground.

We followed a stone staircase down, then entered into a large chamber, statues and portraits of the brethren mounted the walls, though they were so old, their faces were barely recognisable. Through the chamber were coffins belonging to the higher warriors who had fallen after the brethren, but were honoured enough to share their resting place. I hurried after Kain, who had vanished into the crypt. I passed through one last chamber, containing just one last sarcophagus before I found him.

He was leaning over a stone coffin, running his hands along it's edge as he decided how he should break it. I stepped inside, more coffins rested against the walls, the names of their dead inscribed into the stone walls above. So great were their deeds that they were to be honoured in this way. So terrible were their deeds that they were to be defiled in this way. I laughed inwardly at the blasphemy of the situation as I took my place at Kain's side.

He gave me just the slightest glance before looking back at the coffin and grasping both sides of the heavy, stone lid he pushed it aside. The stench was overwhelming as it escaped from it's prison, it even overpowered Kain and we both shielded our faces until it had dissipated enough into the air. Looking back into the coffin, I could see the decaying skeleton draped in fine but rusted armour. His sword resting in his hands, the blade reaching up across his chest to just below his chin.

So this was Raziel. The most skilled of the brethren and indeed the leader, thus he had the highest place of honour amongst his fallen comrades.

"What killed them?" I asked, curiously, running my hand across the fallen stone that Kain had removed. There I could see the date of death and to my mild surprise it matched the same as the other coffins. All of them had died together. Kain shrugged so I didn't ask further, he was far too concerned with the task at hand.

He kneeled beside the coffin and closing his eyes he reached out and rested one hand above the skeleton's forehead, almost touching it, but hovering slightly above. I knelt beside him in silence, knowing better than to disturb him.

The time passed slowly and we sat for what seemed like an age, but still nothing happened. I could see Kain's face contort as he kept his eyes closed, trying to call into the other side, trying to recall Raziel's spirit to what seemed like no avail.

I was on the verge of interrupting and asking if we could leave, but as if sensing my impatience, Kain raised his free hand to silence and appease me.

I sunk back down, and sighed heavily, acknowledging my childish impatience with some annoyance and resentment. I sat with my back against the coffin, relatively bored and without any way of relieving the boredom.

Leaning back I felt something moving above me. I looked up to see a faint, green swirl moving over the coffin. I sat up and looked back at it properly, it was descending on Raziel. I smiled and went to nudge Kain but he was still engrossed in the task and wouldn't be disturbed. The soul touched the skeleton and vanished. As it moved into the bones, Kain fell back, utterly exhausted, but with a contented smile on his face.

I reached out and supported him as we watched the soul take form within the body. The skeleton twitched as the soul tried to bring it back. Kain's smile vanished to be replaced with a frown as the skeleton's movements became more and more violent.

The soul was trying to escape.

Kain threw himself up against the coffin and reached out once more, but it was too late and Kain to exhausted. He muttered furiously under his breath almost begging Raziel to rise, but the soul wrenched free of it's body, floated above the sarcophagus before fading once more. Kain watched it go, his frown turning to almost devastation. I caught him as he fell backwards, I felt the disappointment but not as keenly as he did. I had seen Raziel move, I knew that with time Kain would recover and eventually be able to raise him as we planned. I moved to comfort Kain but before I could, he had lost consciousness in my arms, exhausted from the failed attempt.

TBC


	8. Separation

Chapter 8 - Separation

(Megara)

As Kain lost consciousness, I instinctively bit into my wrist and tried to feed him, but he was out cold, he couldn't respond at all. I sighed heavily and waited for my wrist to heal up. It took a while but eventually the blood stopped flowing, it would take another day or two for the wound to vanish completely. I envied Kain for his ability to heal immediately, I knew one day that I would be able to heal that quickly one day, but until then I had to make do with slow healing powers. I couldn't help but chuckle despite the situation we were in, as I remembered something Kain had once told me, _'Impatience appears to be your strongest virtue_.'

I had already lost patience in the crypt. I checked on Raziel's corpse once more to ensure that it really was dead and that it hadn't decided to raise itself after exhausting Kain in the effort. It or rather he was still lying there, still dead and unmoving, though there seemed to be some kind of residual green glow around the body as if the soul hadn't completely left it.

I had no time to care about this let alone to do anything about it. Kain was unconscious and with no way of waking him I resolved to take him back to the mansion where he could recover in his own time and I could escape the stench of these wretched corpses.

After negotiating with Kain's limp form I finally found a way in which I could half carry him back to the mansion…but that was a long way off and I could barely support his weight, the Soul Reaver securely strapped to his back didn't help matters. "Gods, I can't wait until I can teleport," I cried, quietly to myself as I managed to get Kain out of the crypt and into the graveyard, a place I was seriously wishing I would never have to return to.

The stench of the rotting corpses beneath us washed over me once again along with the unmistakable sensation of nausea and sickness. Getting Kain out of the graveyard was going to be no easy task but I refused to stay there and wait until he regained consciousness. After he had raised me he had spent days recovering from the ordeal and I had no intention of waiting in a place where the very smell threatened to kill me…or at least make me sick to the stomach of which neither were acceptable outcomes.

I don't know how I managed it, but somehow I managed to carry Kain out of the graveyard. Unfortunately as soon as we had left the immediate vicinity and I could breathe clean air again I had to drop him in a secluded alley until I was able to carry him the next part of the journey.

Kain was still completely oblivious to everything and I kicked his foot, partly to see if I could wake him up though probably more out of frustration. I rolled my eyes when I realised that he was dead to the world and would probably remain so until we reached our sanctuary, knowing my luck he would wake up the minute we crossed the threshold. Meanwhile I was left with the unhappy task of getting him back to the mansion which of course _would_ be on the other side of town, nothing was ever simple was it?

There was also the fact that between us and the mansion were various bands of remnant vampire hunters, oh yes and as it was night the patrols would be doubled since the unexpected and unexplained attacks on hunters as well as the unexplained disappearances…Kain and I were always careful never to be caught. Better they thought the vampires were extinct to give us the advantage when it finally came to making our move. But even if they thought we had been wiped out, they would see us for what we were instantly and they would make no hesitation to extinguish the vampire race once and for all.

I laughed to myself, this would be interesting to say the least. I nudged Kain, though I expected no response, "Shame you can't see this," I muttered, driving my arm under his and pulling him off the ground as I started to drag him to the mansion.

Of course I was right. The journey to the mansion _was_ interesting to say the least. We were ambushed by a small group of vampire hunters and I was unarmed carrying an unconscious vampire. I couldn't help but laugh to myself, all our efforts of concealing ourselves had come to nothing, in trying to raise the future of our race we had probably revealed ourselves to them. I let Kain fall to the ground and took up a defensive stance, so I had no weapon, Kain had not been stupid enough not to teach me any other means of defending myself. But I was one unarmed vampire against four hunters armed to the teeth, I didn't really stand much of a chance.

Not for the first time that evening, I was right.

TBC


	9. Alekos and Nicos

Chapter 9 – Alekos and Nicos

(Megara)

'Is she alive?'

'Of course she's alive, look she's still breathing isn't she?'

'They say she's a vampire.'

'Don't be an idiot, Vorador was the last of the vampires and look what happened to him.'

'So why have the vampire hunters been sent back into the streets?'

'Uh…'

'The other one, the guy they took with her, the guy we couldn't get to, they say he broke out, he broke free from the prison and vanished into the night…sounds like a vampire to me.'

The voices around me were as clear as day, as was the pain that racked my body. I could feel my body trying in vain to heal itself, a task not easily done for one so young and without blood. I was lying on my back, under a blanket judging by my comfort and warmth. I could hear the crackling of a fire and the smell of something cooking over it wafted through the air to reach me. If it wasn't for the pain I would have felt completely at ease here, it was so relaxing I almost wanted to lie like this for a while, but I forced my weary eyes to open to see where I was and who had rescued me.

My vision swam at first and then finally focused, bringing the small room into view. I was indeed in a bed. Pushing myself up, ignoring the screams of protests from my aching body as I did so and looked around the room. There was another bed directly opposite me and a fire burned in the hearth against the wall. Apart from that there was little furnishing although the walls were adorned with swords and spears, though it looked more like clutter than decoration. Beside me, resting against the bed, watching me intently from their seats upon the floor were two young humans. At first I thought I must have run mad, I must have been seeing double. They looked identical in every way, both features were exactly the same, the dark hair was the exactly the same length and tied up in exactly the same style and the green eyes that looked up at me both held within them the same warmth and kindness.

A silence hung between us, I didn't know where to start I had so many questions, and from the look on their faces they felt the same. Eventually though the twin closest to me raised himself up and brushed my forehead with a cloth.

"How do you feel?" he asked gently and from his words his brother seemed to grow confidence and sat up with him. I wiped my brow, ignoring the flecks of blood that came with it and tried to regain control of my senses. I had cuts on much of my body, though they had bandaged me up well enough to stop most of the blood, the pain wasn't so bad and from the state of the bed and the fire they were obviously taking good care of me.

"I'm alright," I muttered, looking down at them, taking in the identical details of their features, "Who are you?" I asked and they both smiled. The twin on my left replied,

"I am Alekos and this is my twin Nicos." The other nodded when his name was mentioned, I nodded back to them,

"Megara, but everyone calls me Meg…" as I spoke this I realised the error with my words. Not everyone called me Meg, Kain called me Meg and that made me realise in turn that I was alone here, "Kain," I said suddenly, "Kain, where is he?"

The brothers exchanged glances and Alekos replied, "Kain? The man you were with?" I nodded and Nicos hung his head, the elder however kept eye contact, "We couldn't get to him, they took him away…" I didn't let him finish, I was on my feet before his words left his mouth and I was heading for the door before his arm appeared on my own and pulled me back, "There's no point," he said, gently, "even if you could find where it was they took him he wouldn't be there. We heard that he escaped from the prison."

I breathed a sigh of relief, Kain was awake and out of danger, at least that was my assumption. If I returned to the mansion we had taken residence in I would probably find him there, waiting for me. As I breathed out I felt my strength waver and I stumbled, Alekos moved to catch me and helped me back to the bed.

I massaged my head, trying to ward off the headache that was approaching fast. "Are you a vampire?" Nicos asked suddenly. I chuckled aloud and looked down at him baring my fangs in reply. I expected him to draw back or at least show some hint of fear, instead I was met with a wider grin that the one I had seen him wear earlier and he looked up at his brother who rolled his eyes, "Told you she was a vampire," he said in a sing song voice that revealed the immaturity of his young age, he couldn't have reached his twentieth year yet.

Alekos smiled almost paternally upon his brother and went to the hearth, filling a bowl with whatever it was that was cooking there. He brought it to Nicos and stealing a drop for himself, let his twin eat. He looked down at me, "You need to feed, yourself," he noted. He went to the wall and brought down a sword for himself, "Come, I will take you to the village, Nicos, stay here in case they come back."

Nicos nodded, far more engrossed in what he was eating than anything else. Alekos took my arm again and helped me rise to my feet, taking me slowly to the door. When he opened it I was surprised to find that it did not lead out into the streets as I expected, instead it revealed a wooden staircase leading up to another door. Alekos ascended and I followed, watching my step, the darkened staircase and my weakened state making me feel as though I was about to fall at any moment. Alekos held the door open for me and I passed into another room; a kitchen.

Alekos followed me in and the door shut behind him with a small snap. I turned to look, only to find that the door had vanished, it had blended so well with the wall that even I, who knew where to look could not see it. The handle was one of many hooks along the wall for hanging pots upon, hiding it so well anyone searching the house would be hard pushed to find it.

"My father built that room down there to hide vampires during the last purge," my companion explained before I opened my mouth to ask. "As you can see the door is completely concealed, there is another door in the basement, but that's hidden too and we only ever used it in emergencies. My father was known for his sympathy towards vampires, so the hunters would search us often, they never found anything...well not until the end..."

I raised an eyebrow, "the end?"

He nodded solemnly, "We were hiding three vampires down there, my father was found with them, as was our younger brother. They were taken away, my brother escaped and ran away with my mother and sister to Nachtholm. Nicos and I were away at the time and pleaded ignorance, we happened to leave out the minor detail that we were smuggling vampires into Vasserbunde. They were the last of the vampires to be executed, the rest were found and killed along with Vorador." He frowned, "They were tortured for weeks and they kept their silence, they never betrayed us." I heard the sadness in his voice and had the urge to reach out to him in comfort, but in a moment he had composed himself and he no longer needed that comfort. "and now we have you...my father died protecting vampires so we shall continue his legacy. You'll be safe with us," he assured me, "and believe me they will come looking for you here. Vampires have been thought to be dead for years but everytime they think that they've found one of them, they come here." He stood by the window and together we looked down into the streets to see the odd person walk past. "The pub is down there, father always took our charges there, you could massacre the entire pub and the landlord would be too drunk to notice it, let alone report it to anyone."

I smiled, "I might put that to the test." We both laughed, I couldn't help but think about Kain and how if he said such a thing he would have meant it. I knew that I would have to find Kain, but for now I would focus on regaining my strength.

TBC


	10. The Return Home

Chapter 10 - The Return Home

(Megara)

As we walked through the streets I found myself far more wary and alert than my human companion. Every hunter who passed us could have unmasked me, any one of them could have raised the alarm and there were enough of them around to tell me that Kain and I's escape had terrified them, they were doing everything in their power to find us again. Yet here I was, disguised under human dress and yet they could not tell. Granted the darkness shielded my pale skin and as I was still so young my eyes had not yet become completely golden and maintained some hue of green. My teeth I kept well hidden so with hindsight I suppose I must have blended in quite well, I was just another human but at the time I jumped everytime they passed us and my grip on Alekos' arm tightened I was not surprised when he showed me the bruises the following morning.

Alekos on the other hand was completely at ease as if this really were just another evening out. The fact that he was in the company of a wanted vampire didn't seem to phase him and he carried about him an air of absolute calm. I found myself calming slightly just by being in his presence but that didn't stop my white skin flushing bright scarlet and my heart beating a hundred times faster than usual everytime a hunter passed us by and when one of them paused to wish us a good evening I was convinced that if I were not already dead my heart would have stopped and killed me all over again.

Night had set in completely and a cool air set about the streets. I was untouched by the drop in the temperature, Alekos on the other hand felt it as keenly as I must have as a human. I didn't dare to take my cloak off although I would have willingly given to him to shield him from the cooling night. Instead I satisfied myself with wrapping my arms around him trying to preserve some of his body heat. He said nothing to deter me and seemed to accept the gesture for what it was.

We stopped outside a backstreet pub which would not have surprised me if it was the roughest pub in Nosgoth. Alekos grinned at me as if he expected me to be dissapointed, I must have surprised him with my return grin, I couldn't think of anywhere better I could blend in. He opened the door and allowed me to enter first as the true gentleman he was, once there I looked around at the crowds of dubious characters wondering which of them would be my fist victim of the night. Alekos gestured for me to sit at one of the tables, backed far into the corner so I could survey the entire pub. There was something not quite right about this, Alekos seemed to know exactly what he was doing and he was so at ease with it, it almost seemed unnatural.

As if he had read my thoughts he replied, "We used to do this all the time with the vampires we had with us, I'm used to it, though I'm probably a bit rusty. Father would bring the vampires here, a few at a time, they used to sit here so they could see wh they would like to feed off. It's easy enough to feed here, I mean give it another few rounds and some of them will be so drunk you'll have to carry them into the alley."

I couldn't help but smile, this all seemed too perfect. The pub was relatively crowded, and I could see that Alekos' father had been right to pick this place. It was with a grin that I looked over these people and contemplated which of them I would take. Alekos bought us drinks to keep up the pretence, I sat with my ironic glass of red wine in front of me and found that even though Kain had told me that it would serve no nutritional value I could still feel the intoxicating effects working their magic.

After a long while sitting there, I chose my victim. A butcher or similar vocation that worked with food, his size attested to that. His clothes were obviously a size or two too small or maybe he had just outgrown them in a very short space of time, the buttons were strained to the point they looked as though they could ping off at any moment. His stomach bulged over his waistline and he had consumed enough wine to turn his already ruddy face bright red and I could see the droplets of sweat trickling down his face. He was surrounded by women, none of them especially attractive and it must have been this that sparked my imagination.

With a wink at my human companion I left Alekos and I pushed my way through the girls and sat next to him and joined in the flirting game. The girls regarded me with suspicion but let me carry on anyway. I worked my feminine charms to become one of them, by his making not theirs. I couldn't understand what these girls saw in him personally, with his wandering hands and obscene mouth I couldn't see how his personality could make a difference, but I didn't realise at the time how much money he actually had. I was considering how I would feed from suchh a popular man who may not be left alone at any point when I saw two hunters, very annebriated, sitting in a corner sielded from my earlier view. My lips twisted into a malicious grin and I moved towards them all thoughts of my last victim gone. I don't think anyone would have cared or even notice, I was later proven wrong but at the time I was too preoccupied with feeding from the hunters. I glanced over at Alekos, he looked puzzled for a moment as if he couldn't quite figure out what I was planning. His eyes followed mine and he practically jumped from the chair when he realised what I was planning. He shook his head, frantically, but as Kain will vouch, once I get an idea in my head nothing will move me from it. I sat with the two hunters and smiled at them, paying particular attention to conceal my fangs from them though both of them were too drunk to notice anything as it was. I plied them both with alcohol, and listened to their stories. They were brothers, one of them was much older than the other and had been a part of the cut throat army since his wife had been killed by a vampire, his brother, much younger than he, did not want to be in the militia and never wanted to be a part of it, but felt his family honour would be jepordized if he didn't do something worthwhile.

I spent the evening with them to tell the truth I rather enjoyed it. They spilled their whole lives out to me, in that hour or so I spent with them I learned everything about them from where they grew up to what their favourite food was. It was interesting the effect alcohol had on these men and I admit I kept buying in more just to keep them talking, it was one of the more interesting evenings and looking back, what I learned that night came in handy on many occasions and not too long afterwards either. They kept talign for a while longer before the eldest decided they should be returning home, they asked if I would like to go with them, he had taken partcular interest in me and the other merely seemed to like me...though I doubted either of them would remember me in the morning, that said neither of them would wake up in the morning. It seemed almost a shame to have to kill them, but despite everything I had heard that night, they had bared their souls to me, but I never forgot who they were, they were hunters...and they would have killed me in an instant. I can't say I especially enjoyed it, but it fed me nonetheless, that said, I couldn't help feeling satisfied when I saw, from the shadows, naturally, the look on the hunters who gathered around their comrades bodies when they were found.

Slipping inconspicously back into the pub, I dropped down into the seat beside Alekos who was still cradling the last drink I had left him with. He looked up at me, still wearing the puzzled disbelieving look that had followed me out of the pub and into the alley. "Have fun?" he asked. I shrugged but he could see that I was feeling a lot better. He nodded approvingly and taking my arm once more, steered me towards the house where we would conceal ourselves once more.

TBC


	11. Divided

Chapter 11 – Divided

(Kain)

I awoke in a poorly built prison, even by the standards of the hunters. They did not detain me long and I feasted well that night. I scoured their prison and questioned every hunter I found but none knew where Meg was. Indeed, none had any idea who Meg was. I made haste to the home we had made but found it empty and worse still, in the same state we had left it in. Not only was Meg not here but she had never been here, no one had stepped into the home since we had left it those days ago. I checked her room to be certain but there was nothing. I knew she would never have abandoned me, I had been captured and had Meg been unable to help me as appeared to be the case then she would have surely returned here. I spent two days searching for her, lest she be in hiding somewhere, too weak or wounded to find her way home. I found nothing, I sensed nothing, I heard nothing, not even the faintest whisper and eventually, reluctantly I came to the conclusion that she was dead.

The loss of Meg was strange. She had never figured into my overall vision, in fact if I had not seen her grave that day I went to raise Raziel then she would never have been born. Many a time in those early moments I wondered what I was ever going to do with her, a random vampire who would be inevitably more powerful than the others, being my first and yet she would not accept that role. In a way being rid of her was a good thing, all she had ever been was a test piece and yet I could not help but miss her. I actually felt the need to grieve and with a horrible realisation, I saw just how much I loved her without ever showing or it or even knowing it before now. It was a loss that I would probably never get over, I could see myself years from now sitting on my throne wondering just how different things would be if she could be there.

I was sitting in her room three mornings later, after yet another futile search, holding a coat I had given to her to protect her young skin against the cold weather that had not yet come. A coat she had never worn and never would wear. I heard the door open downstairs and for a fleeting moment I thought that she had returned, until I heard the running. This was not just Meg, there were many of them. The hunters had found me again, probably having followed me home from the search I had just completed. In my almost desperate attempts to find her I had not exactly been careful with my disguise or even my "questioning". I could not muster the energy or even the will to fight them, so I merely took to the window and left, still holding the coat I had given her.

(Megara)

My time with the twins passed quickly, as it had done with Kain. Whenever I found myself laughing with them I could not help but think of Kain. I wondered what he had been doing and some part of me felt guilty that I had not tried to find him yet, but then as Alekos constantly reminded me, whenever I tried to get up and leave, I was not yet recovered enough to make the journey, I certainly could never have fought off a group of hunters should I have met them. It took a week, a week of almost constant feeding before I was restored completely, or at least that's what I told them so they would let me go. Even then, Alekos and Nicos said they would accompany and true to their word they did.

They would not let me go alone in case I ran into trouble, but together the three of us merely looked like a group of travellers and we made good time, leaving at dawn, we were at the mansion by dusk. I could not conceal my excitement as we walked through the forest towards my home. I think at parts I may even have broke into a run and shouted for Kain.

I laughed when I heard Alekos and Nicos struggling to follow me, "Kain!" I shouted again, sprinting through the forest towards the mansion. My laughter escaped from me as I emerged in the clearing where our mansion stood and yet the moment I saw it the breath was knocked out to me and I vaguely remember instantly crumpling to the ground. Alekos and Nicos emerged just a few seconds later and I heard them gasp in unison. The mansion was deserted, smoke was streaming out of the windows and the doorway which had been smashed in, the fire had burned out but its damage was apparent. Kain was not here, the mansion was destroyed so he would not be coming back. Alekos helped me to my feet and a sob escaped me, as it dawned on me that I had lost Kain, I was too distraught to think that maybe if I waited there he would come back, maybe I would find him in the town or maybe I would just run into him by chance. No, instead I just stood there, crying into Alekos' shoulder as he held me and Nicos patted my back gently, not so much to console me but for me to know that he was there and that they would always be there.

Then, to prove that they would look at me, Alekos wrapped his arm around me, Nicos wrapped his arm around me, both of them stood at my side and with me dazed and crying in between them, they carried me home.

TBC


	12. Reunion

Chapter 12 - Reunion

_3 years later…_

(Megara)

I sat with Nicos upstairs in the main house. The hunters were not as vigorous in their searches anymore, but they were always there. Every now and then over the years they would do random searches of properties, thankfully ours had never been searched, I found this odd at first considering Alekos and Nicos' family history, but then Nicos had been married for a year and had now a baby daughter to care for, no doubt they thought that he would not be so stupid to leave a vampire with them.

A year ago Nicos fell in love with a young woman who lived just three doors away, she did not trust me and clearly did not like me living in her house but we tolerated each other. Minera did not know that I was a vampire but I'm sure that she suspected. When they married Alekos believed it wise that Nicos and Minera live in the main house while he and I continued to live in the hidden rooms as a precaution under the pretence that he and I were lovers, which as time progressed became closer to the truth than intended.

Now, I sat with Nicos in the main chamber of the house with baby Jasmine in my arms. She was awake and looking up at me with her father's face. "She likes you," Nicos said, almost lazily, "Last night she cried so much that I almost came down to get you. She never cries with you."

"You should have come down, I wouldn't have minded," I said, honestly. Nicos nodded,

"I know, Minera didn't seem too impressed and I doubt Alekos would have thanked me for stealing you from his bed. I blushed despite myself as I always did, even though I knew that Nicos knew inevitably almost every detail of my life with Alekos.

"She doesn't like me," I said, stating a fact more than anything else, hoping he didn't notice my change of subject. As much as I loved and trusted Nicos, Alekos was something I wanted to keep to myself, I doubted I would even have told Kain about him, not that I was sure Kain would ever approve of my love with a human.

"She likes you well enough," Nicos replied, not sounding totally convinced. The front door opened and Alekos strolled into the living chamber, kissing me on the forehead as he sat beside me and then kissing his niece's cheek, "and how fares my little princess?" he asked.

"She's fine," Nicos said, smiling at his brother's affection.

Alekos smirked, "I was talking about Meg," he joked.

"She's fine too," Nicos laughed. Behind him came Minera who gave me an awkward smile before she took Jasmine from me and took her to sit with her father. I said nothing against it, instead I leaned back into Alekos' arms and welcomed his half embrace. It was like a picture, to see Nicos lean over his daughter, with his wife, whom, however much I may have disliked she genuinely loved him. We sat there for hours, just enjoying the others' company. It was growing dark outside and I felt the familiar hunger grow on me. As Minera rose to put Jasmine to bed, I rose with her, though Alekos did not let go of my hand, keeping it in his all the way. "I am going for a walk," I said, quietly so Minera would not hear me, she didn't quite understand why I would feel the need to wander through the streets at such an hour.

Alekos made to rise with me, but I gestured for him to remain, "I won't be long," I promised, "You stay." He knew better to argue with me and he sank back into the chair, still holding my hand. Nicos looked away politely as I leaned down and kissed his brother, before I slipped through the door and into the streets.

The village was as peaceful as ever and I relished the cool air that caressed me as I walked. These nights always put me in mind of Kain. I missed him everyday and yet had grown accustomed to life without him, my love with Alekos made his loss easier to bear somewhat. I could not believe Kain to be dead but I could not have found him, the world was too big a place and Kain too adept at hiding.

I was gone for an hour at most when a band of hunters sped past me, I had not yet chosen my victim so I knew they were not chasing me. I thought nothing of it and continued my hunt. I found a victim not long after and when my hunger had been sated I returned home, I found myself smiling despite myself at what awaited me there.

As I came around I saw that the front door was open and in that instant I knew something was wrong. I ran into the house to find it torn apart by signs of struggle. Furniture was overturned, curtains were ripped and throughout the house, there were splatters of blood. "Alekos!" I screamed, running upstairs in the hope I would find them, but there was nothing. I was standing in Jasmine's room when I heard her crying, distantly as if part of a dream. I left the room and went back to the kitchen, as I thought the hidden room remained hidden, I opened it up and the crying got louder.

Minera was holding Jasmine, cowering against the furthest corner, she was sobbing almost as loudly as the baby. I ran to them, feeling my own tears rising to meet hers.

"What happened?" I asked, helping her to rock Jasmine to calm her.

"The hunters," she said, between sobs, "They came, they said something about their brother in league with vampires…they took them away, Nicos forced me down here before they…before they…" she broke off, unable to speak for crying. I wrapped my arms around her and the baby and the three of us sat there huddled together for comfort, allowing the tears to come freely.

"You must go," I finally managed to say, "You must return home, take Jasmine with you. Tell your parents…tell them that Alekos and Nicos were innocent." She nodded and began to rise,

"What of you?" she asked, uncertainly, but I had already picked up my sword.

"I will find them," I said, I kissed Jasmine on the forehead for the last time and was gone.

I made my way through the streets with my sword in hand and my fangs bared, caring not for who saw me and inviting those who would harm me. I lost count of the hunters I killed as I went to the local base, needless to say I massacred them. When I reached the base my killing spree did not stop. I found them ill prepared and smugly confident at their latest arrest, how I enjoyed wiping their smug grins from their faces. I hadn't even felt this rage for Kain, I must have killed them all before I found them. Alekos and Nicos lying side by side in a cell at the back of the base. I ran to their sides, Nicos was dead and had been for some time, he must have been killed when they took him from the house. He had been stabbed through the heart and could not have survived. As I kissed Nicos goodbye there was movement beside me, Alekos' hand lifted and took my own.

"Alekos?" I gasped, moving over to him, thanking whatever God cared to listen that he lived, but my joy was short lived, he too was wounded and as much as I hated to admit it, he would not survive either. "Alekos, I'm so sorry," I sobbed, burying my face in his chest, caring not for the blood that stained me.

"Hey," he said weakly and he used his other hand to raise my face, "No tears," he said, "We knew the risk," he paused, "it was worth it. I wouldn't change a thing." He brushed my tears aside, "You know I love you," he whispered. I nodded and kissed his cold lips, he was shivering, silently. His body shook beneath me,

"I love you too," I said, unable to stop a wave of fresh tears coming. He smiled and kissed me again, then we said nothing, there was nothing more to be said. I sat with him, he still held my hand as he always did then just before he died, he whispered, "Goodbye Meg, be happy," he pressed my hand and then was gone.

(Kain)

That was where I found her. I was in the next town when I heard of a mad vampire killing every hunter that crossed her path. The nearby towns were mustering reinforcements to capture her, but that would take time. I made haste to their base and found it, as the rumours suggested a mass graveyard for the hunters. And there, in a cell was Meg. She was cradling a man's head in her lap, her head bowed and faint sobs echoing off the stone walls, tears streamed from her eyes, splashing down onto his lifeless face.

"Meg," I breathed, unable to quite believe that after all these years she lived, as I had never dared to hope. She did not hear me, instead she just sat there, crying. I went to her side and put my arm around her, "Meg," I repeated, trying to ease her away from the body,

"No!" she cried, wrapping her arms around the body, determined not to leave it, "I can't leave him, I can't leave him!"

"You must," I said, firmly, trying to lift her away. She struggled a little but then leaned down and kissed his forehead, she glanced over at another body in the room before she allowed me to lift her up and help her out. "It was my fault," she whispered over and over again, "Alekos, it was my fault."

I thought she had run mad, but soon realised that she was suffering from a grief I could not yet understand.

The hunters who planned to eliminate the new threat to their allies ran past us without a second glance, they didn't recognise us as their enemies and they would never have suspected that this distraught and rambling woman was the one who had killed their friends. Throughout the journey Meg didn't look up once, her cries had ceased and instead she seemed to have lost the will to do anything, she walked with me but didn't show any awareness of where she was going, what she was doing or even who she was with.

After the destruction of our old home I had taken another home, not far from where I had found Meg and once more concealed in hilltops and surrounded by fields, we could have been mistaken for farmers and we were ensured privacy there. As I helped Meg up the stairs, the youngest of my sons so far, my third son Dumah who was but a year old, held the door open for us, looking curiously at the woman I had brought back. I took her upstairs and into my own bedchamber, I could sense the bewildered state of my sons in the chambers below but ignored it, for now Meg was my only care.

I sat her down on the bed and knelt down opposite her so I could see her face. "Meg," I said gently, but she didn't seem to register, "Meg, are you alright?"

She looked up at me and squinted as if she were trying to make something out in the distance, "Oh Kain," she sobbed, tears flowing again and she collapsed into my arms, crying hysterically for the rest of the night, until she finally found comfort in a dreamless sleep, drifting off in my arms as her crying faltered and finally ceased.

TBC


	13. The Lieutenants

Chapter 13 – The Lieutenants

(Kain)

She slept through the night and most of the day. I did not wake her, but I did not want to leave her, instead I sat by her side. I sat up in the bed with Meg's head resting in my lap and one of her arms wrapped around my waist as she had lain when I had raised her those few years ago.

When she finally woke the next morning I would not have noticed it had I not been watching her face. Her eyes opened suddenly, and she made no movement. I could see her trying to make sense of the day before. "Kain?" she asked and I moved one arm over her,

"I'm here," I murmured.

"Are they really dead?" she asked. I did not know what she meant but then it came to me that there had been two bodies in the room with her, one of which she had clearly known and so I nodded,

"I'm sorry," I said, not quite knowing what I was apologising for, "Meg," I said softly, "Meg talk to me, what happened?"

And it all came, everything, absolutely every detail from the day we attempted to raise Raziel to the moment I had found her in the cell. She told me everything in a toneless voice, her voice never faltered as she explained what had happened to her in those years. How she had been taken in by two humans who saved her and protected her, how one of them became her lover, how she had cared for a baby daughter as if she were her own and only when she finished with their deaths I understood why she was so distraught.

When her silence finally came I could not speak. I had not the words to comfort her, instead I merely opened my arms to her and she fell forward into them. She did not cry, she did not speak and I resolved just to hold her and allow her to heal in however way she chose to do so.

"Kain…" she murmured, "would you…would you leave me? I need to be alone for a while."

I nodded, "Of course," even though we had been apart for so long, it was as if nothing had ever changed, it was as if she had left for a couple of hours rather than years. "When you are ready," I said before I left, and I knew that she would not leave before she was ready.

I left the chamber and realised that I was hungry having not fed since well before I found Meg. As I descended the stairs Raziel was there on hand with a goblet of fresh blood, some would think he could read my mind, I knew better, rather than pre empting my whim he was merely apologising for the disobedience he had committed, he like Meg thought himself more powerful than he was and had paid the price in a cell similar to the one I had found Meg in. Now he was making amends for his arrogance.

I took the glass without a word and entered the main chamber, my sons Turel and Dumah were playing chess together there, both of them rose to greet me but I gestured for them to remain.

"Is she alright?" Dumah asked, I was surprised that Dumah should show such concern. He was the most considerate of the three so far, even though he did not know who in Nosgoth she was, he was genuinely concerned for her.

"She will be fine, she must rest," I replied and I took a seat where I could watch the two play.

"Who is she?" Turel asked, blatantly, he had not yet mastered good manners. "Is she someone for us to eat?" He looked hopeful, it was rarely that I brought someone home for the three of them to feed from. This time I shook my head, trying to be patient with them, they did not and could not be expected to know who she was.

"She is your sister," I told them, "She was born before any of you were…" I hesitated, I felt Raziel flinch when he realised he was not the oldest and so was not the most powerful of my children. "I thought her dead, but I was mistaken. She will be living with us from now on." Nothing more was said on the matter even when Meg did not leave my room for four days straight. Raziel offered me his chamber, I would not have disturbed her for the world, I was not happy about it but she needed time to recover from this wound, or at least face the worst of it so it became bearable.

On the fifth day, the four of us were sitting around the table discussing the plans for the future, they knew my intentions to bring home another three children even if they didn't know the manner of their births, then when they were all strong enough we would begin to move against the humans and return the land to vampiric rule. We were discussing our plans when Meg came in. She walked as if she knew the place and as if it was everyday she joined us like this. Despite the silence that greeted her entrance she moved towards me and forced herself between Turel and myself. I did not need to move but Turel was "encouraged" to make way for her.

"So," she said as if this was one of the most natural thing in the world, "What are we doing?" She sounded happy, she didn't have a care in the world, but I knew her better and could see plainly that this was a façade, shielding the deep pain she was feeling. She may have found a way to brush over it in public but her loss was still there, eating at her like a canker in her spirit.

She looked around and then realised that they had no clue as to who she was, "My name's Meg by the way," she introduced a moment too late perhaps.

Dumah rose and ever the gentleman, kissed her hand, "Dumah," he replied.

"Turel," Turel muttered eyeing Meg with suspicion, but seeming to accept her nonetheless. Turel had never been happy with his status as second born and now for him to be demoted further sat hard with him I could tell. It was hard to read Raziel, like Dumah he acted the gentleman and kissed her hand and smiled warmly at her. I had expected him to be like Turel, annoyed if not furious at his demotion, for Raziel would have felt it far worse than Turel, Raziel would have lost the highest position in my empire but he did not seem to mind. In fact over the next few days Raziel and Meg grew close, closer than I ever thought they would have.

It was only when Meg stood with Raziel that I saw the resemblance between the two and I appreciated how as humans she would have been instantly recognisable as his daughter. They shared the same dark hair, the same square jaw, their features were a mirror of each other, though Meg's were softer somehow. I couldn't see how the others didn't notice it, but then maybe I only noticed it because I knew the truth. Meg didn't know that as a human Raziel had been her father, I didn't know how she would react but I don't think she would have particularly care, she knew that the brethren I raised were once the Sarafan but she had never confronted me nor had she ever mentioned it, if it played on her mind or caused her guilt she certainly kept it hidden from me something that could not be done easily, not so much of my abilities, but simply because I knew her so well.

I knew her well enough to know that she was putting on a show. Although she seemed to enjoy the company of her brothers and smiled and laughed with the best of them, she was still suffering, she needed a distraction, something that would take her mind off the pain. She needed to be distracted until she could put enough time between her and the loss so that it did not hurt her so. Coincidently there was something that could be done for her.

I had told Raziel that I was going to raise another brother for him, he did not ask questions, he never did. He knew that while I was gone he would be in charge and ensure that the other two behaved themselves. He did not mind that I would be taking Meg with me thus displaying her superiority to the rest of them and so I concluded that he had accepted Meg's role and he got on with her so well that it did not bother him at all.

The hour was late when I decided to return to the graveyard, I expected Meg to be sleeping but instead I found her on the balcony looking out onto out darkened fields.

"Meg?" I asked when I was standing behind her, she jumped not realising that I had disturbed her solace. "Come," I said to her, I took her arm and helped her off the ledge she sat upon.

"Where are we going?" She asked me curiously, as we left the house and took two horses from the stables. She rode by my side even though she did not know quiet where we were going but I suspect she had an idea.

"Are we going to the cemetery?" she asked, confirming my thoughts that she knew.

I nodded, "Since raising Raziel I have been able to raise a son a year, now I am ready for the fourth." Meg nodded, but I had not yet finished, "I need your help this time. I have raised the last three and yourself alone, I have trained them, but it is taking too long, I cannot raise them and plan for the future at the same time."

"Do I get to take care of them?" she asked with an enthusiasm that surprised me.

"If you would," I said. She smiled at me, for a moment the smile that she gave me was the one from the Meg I had known before and for a moment my little Megara was returned to me.

"Of course I will, but you know, I would have done it anyway, you did not need to ask."

"As always," I said, "As always."

TBC


	14. The Failing

14 – The Failing

(Megara)

When Rahab opened his eyes I knew that I couldn't allow grief to get the better of me. In that first look I realised that however great my loss I would get over it, time would heal me, even though I would never forget Alekos and Nicos, they could no longer be a part of my life. Slowly but surely as I helped Rahab to develop I began to heal.

Kain was right, while I helped Rahab he was able to make plans for everything. After his initial preoccupation with the empire I was afraid that he was going to sink into solitude again, instead he involved his sons with it. After we had all fed in the evenings we would sit by the fire and discuss the plans. Raziel and Turel had the most to contribute, Dumah and Rahab were unable to go out in sunlight and so had to make do by night. Dumah found it difficult to go into sunlight, it did not burn him but he was clearly intolerant. Even more so for Rahab, he couldn't go into the light without it singing his skin. I raised it with Kain but he didn't seem concerned, it seemed that powerful though they were inherently weakening as Kain raised them.

In a year Zephon joined us, like Rahab with ever more weaknesses. Zephon had to sleep through the day and only rose at night. Although I must admit, in those days, when I suppose I should have been worried about them, although I was concerned, naturally I was far more worried about Kain.

I am not stupid or blind whether Kain thought me one, the other or both but I knew there was something wrong. He would not dare show it to the others, but he could not hide it from me. It was just after Rahab was raised, I noticed that Kain seemed…not distant but not quite with us. His mind was always there but he, how can I put it, he gave the impression he was unwell, if such a thing was possible, he seemed to need rest. After the raising of Zephon this was even more apparent, except this time he slept more often and much more deeply than he ever had. Kain always slept with a sword near him lest the hunters came in the night and he always slept lightly. If I so much as opened the door he would be awake in a second and looking up at me, his hand always hovering but a few inches from the Reaver. Now, I could open the door, close it, cross the room and sit beside him in bed and he would not stir.

One morning he woke and found me sitting in the chair opposite him, "What do you want?" he asked me gruffly, this was yet another sign I did not like, although Kain was not exactly a morning person being a vampire and all, he rarely had waking moods like this.

"I'm worried about you," I said bluntly. "Kain there's something wrong, what is it?"

"How dare you," he growled, rising from the bed. "There is nothing wrong, leave me."

For a moment I was taken aback, never had he spoken to me like this, this was the tone he took when one of his sons had displeased him. Needless to say I did not move, "There is something wrong," I repeated, "What is it?"

He made the mistake of thinking that I was a Lieutenant, that I was his servant, he had never treated me as one before and he was mistaken if he thought I was going to let him treat me like one now, Gods I was more like him than I realised. We spent an age arguing like that, I raising my concerns, he forbidding me to speak of it.

"Kain, you are not well!" I snapped, finally tiring of his determination to lower me to his servant.

"I am perfectly well!" he snapped back. I let out a frustrated yell and stormed from the room. Downstairs I could imagine my brothers able to hear every word, looking at each other in an awkward silence. None of them dared to argue with him, Raziel would disagree and raise concerns, but never argue. It was as he had said, they were his servants, they addressed him as "My Lord," and always would. There were no first name terms between them. He was their lord and master and although they were his sons he was not their father.

I went into the main chamber and slammed the door behind me, then I opened it and made to return to him, then I remembered why I left in the first place and I slammed it once more.

"In or out, just stop slamming the door!" Dumah called from the other side of the room. I shot him a glare and in response he threw a cushion at me. I put it against my face and screamed into it before I threw it right back at him. Rahab moved over without a word and I sat beside him. His arm came around me as it always did whenever I was stressed and in an instant I began to calm down. Til the very end I never found out how Rahab could stay so calm, he never faltered, maybe once or twice in an eternity but he was always so placid, so much so that it overflowed and could calm anyone nearby, except Kain at least.

I leaned onto Rahab's shoulder and could feel myself drifting to sleep, considering that I hadn't felt tired til now it came as a surprise, but Rahab didn't mind. "Better?" he asked me quietly, as if he could feel the anger seeping out of me. I nodded but didn't open my mouth to speak. I felt my eyes go and I let them flutter closed.

I woke up as the first rays of dawn filtered through the windows. I was still on the sofa with Rahab, neither of us had moved, but someone, probably Raziel had kept the fire stoked well into the night and folded a blanket over the two of us.

Without waking Rahab I rose and went up to Kain's chamber to see if he was in a more cooperative mood. I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I rolled my eyes and went in anyway, but Kain wasn't there. The covers had been thrown back as though he had left in a hurry and the fire had long burned out. "Raziel?" I called, not particularly caring if I woke anyone else, but Raziel even though had so obviously been asleep just a few moments ago was at my side in an instant. "Did Kain tell you he was going somewhere?" I asked, showing perhaps more concern than I intended. Raziel shook his head, he barely had time to finish the motion before I was out the front door, hurrying with the abnormal speed that I had been blessed with, I went into the nearest town but there was nothing. My bond with Kain had deepened so much that I knew if he was near me or not, I could sense him, Raziel begun to have it too and Turel was starting to show signs so the ability was not unique to me. I could not sense him in the next town, not at all, I could usually have some faint sense but now there was nothing. It chilled me as I had never felt before, it was as if we were completely separated.

I had been wandering through streets that I didn't seem to recognise. It was nearing sunset again when I sensed something, something distant, very faint. My stomach turned over when I saw that it was coming from the cemetery. Ignoring the sense of foreboding that I felt every time I set foot there I rushed into the crypt. Kain was there, trying to raise the last son, Melchiah, but something had gone wrong. Kain was still trying to raise him even though the corpse was moving. He had done it, but it was not like the others. After Kain placed some of his vampiric soul into the corpse it would begin to mend itself, skin would form, hair would grow and it would be a corpse no longer, a person would begin to take shape. The transformation took only a few minutes and it would be done. But now, the transformation had stopped, Melchiah's corpse was far from reanimated, although skin had started to appear it had not taken to the full form of the body, instead clumps of skin had formed themselves, leaving the body more corpse than vampire, bones were still visible and the eye sockets were still hollow. I stepped forward and placed my hand on Kain's shoulder to alert him to my presence and support him. He was focused for a few minutes more, desperately trying to finish the act but eventually he just collapsed, unable to sacrifice more of his soul to raise him. I caught Kain and moaned, the last time this happened we were separated for a long three years. I rolled my eyes at the prospect of dragging not only Kain but Melchiah home too. Kain was completely gone, if he was human he would have been mistaken for dead. I knelt down beside him and shook him gently but there was nothing. At least he was still breathing. Melchiah sat up in the sarcophagus, Kain's final attempt to raise him had succeeded in raising the corpse, but failed miserable at the same time. The corpse was indeed alive, and granted now skin had begun to form over the rotting bones, but it was still a gaunt creature with skin stretched over the bones so tightly that I could still see the bones beneath. I could have cried for frustration, if Kain had listened to me, if Kain hadn't thought himself so damned untouchable and perfect then he could have raised Melchiah at his full strength and none of this would have happened. Gods what would have happened if Kain wasn't so damned arrogant.

TBC


	15. False Courtesies

Chapter 15 – False Courtesies

(Megara)

There was a quiet knock at the door and Raziel slipped into the room. I was sitting with my back to the door but I knew it was him, none of the others would dare enter, I ordered it myself. Kain would never forgive me if I had let the others seen him like this, but I trusted Raziel more than the others, Raziel would not mention it to them and if he ever said it to Kain it would always be with the utmost discretion.

Raziel let the door snap shut before he moved quietly to my side. He knelt down beside my chair and placed one hand on mine, "Meg?" he asked as if he feared I could not hear him, I looked down at him, "Melchiah is fine," he said, "Turel and I have been feeding him almost continuously for the last two days, but he is strong enough to walk and maybe even hunt."

I nodded and my gaze returned to Kain who had not moved in three days. "Thank you, Raziel," I murmured.

His grip on my hand tightened to comfort me, "Meg, you haven't moved for three days, why don't you get some sleep and let me watch over him. You need to rest, you need to feed."

A ghost of a smile flickered across my lips, "I'll be fine," I said, though I was exhausted and he knew it. He didn't try to persuade me further, he knew that it would be pointless and so he left me. He brought me two goblets of blood every night. I would press one to Kain's lips and allow it to trickle through them and the other I would down for myself. It took a full seven days before Kain stirred. In that time I had not left his side, I had sat there willing him to rise, feeding him without thought for my own rest. By the time he woke, I was mentally and physically exhausted, I had barely fed, I had not slept and my emotions ran high thinking that he was going to die and leave us. Ok, maybe dying was extreme but still I did not know what to do for him.

On the seventh day I fed him and the moment the goblet touched his cold lips, his eyes opened as if he had been sleeping this whole time. "Kain," I barely managed to whisper, but he heard me. He sat up in bed and looked as though he was going to be fine, his colour, however pale it was had returned, his eyes seemed focused, indeed it looked as though he had just awoken from a healthy sleep. "You're ok?" I gasped, knowing that I probably looked worse than he. His eyes narrowed when he looked at me and it was clear that the memory of our argument was fresh in his mind.

"Melchiah?" he asked casually.

"Alive," I muttered, "if barely. Why did you not wait?" I asked, unable to control my outburst, "Why in the name of the Gods did you even consider raising another while you knew, you knew that you were not at your full strength. It hasn't even been a year since you raised Zephon and-"

"Enough!" he ordered, cutting me short, "Leave me," he commanded. I opened my mouth to argue but in the end couldn't bring myself to do it. So I left him, without a backwards glance. Raziel was waiting in the hallway and knew instantly that I would never have left him if Kain was still unconscious. Rahab was also there, he did not know why Kain was staying in the room all this time, but he seemed more concerned for me. He opened his arms to me and I, in my exhausted state fell into them, I think I was asleep when he caught me for I don't remember any more.

I woke up the following afternoon in my chamber, it was somewhat comforting to wake up in my own bed. I stretched out into it and smiled to myself, I felt well rested though slightly hungry. I slipped out of my bed and dressed for a night of hunting. I went to my window box and sat there looking out over the fields, the sun was setting and I could take my younger brothers into the town.

Raziel and Turel were now capable of going into the town alone, Dumah was progressing well also, but the other two were still too young to leave the house without one of us to guard and guide them. I would need help to bring someone home for little Melchiah to feed from as well. He would not be able to go into the town for some time. The clouds overhead looked threatening but it had not rained for days and I trusted it would not for a while, if it did rain then we could always sleep it out in an inn in the town, we would not be able to wander freely in the rain, we would all burn.

My door opened without a knock to precede it, there was no need to knock before coming into my own chamber, I was never much of fan of privacy. I glanced back to see Kain shutting the door behind him. I chuckled to myself and remembered him cursing once about humans' pathetic love of doors and how when his palace was built there would be a considerable lack of them. I rose and gave him a reluctant bow, "My Lord," I muttered, rising up again. His eyes narrowed when he looked at me,

"What was that?" he asked.

I did not smile, "Should I do it again?" I asked, almost challenging him.

"You've never bowed to me before," he said.

"I've never called you, 'my lord' either," my reply cut the air like a whip crack and I surprised myself with how harsh my tone had become.

Kain did not know what to make of this and for a moment I was ashamed of how we were. I was closer to him than any of the brothers even Raziel, firstborn of his lieutenants and yet here we were staring each other down as if we were both ready to rip the other's heart out. Kain opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, "I'm sorry," he muttered and left immediately. I smiled to myself, Kain apologised never, only to me. He never admitted it to the others, Kain was never wrong, he was infallible and he never ever apologised, at least not to anyone else, to the rest of the world he was perfect, to me he was as he always had been; just Kain.

TBC


	16. The Beginning of the Beginning

Chapter 16 – The Beginning of the Beginning

(Megara)

Kain and I grew closer, the sons grew older and more experienced. The decades passed and we watched and waited. We watched the humans so we would know when to strike, we watched them so we knew their every move. And we waited, we waited for the brethren to grow, to train, to become warriors capable of taking a town with limited manpower. Raziel by far was the most talented among his brothers, he had progressed well, he surprised us all by bringing home a man whom had helped him when he had been taken prisoner. Azrael was an asset to us, he was able to do things we as vampires were not, he was able to go into the towns whenever he chose whereas we were bound by the rising and setting of the sun while the youngest of the brothers slowly developed immunity to it's deadly rays. Azrael was still young when he fell ill and without consulting Kain, shocking the rest of us, Raziel turned him. Azrael became the first vampire made by one of the brothers, he would take his place in our empire as the firstborn of the firstborn. I expected Kain to be angry but he was not, in fact he seemed proud of his son.

Azrael was the brother Alekos and Nicos had told me so much of. When I learned this I think I cried more than when they died. We spent a day locked in my room talking about them and crying together, when we were done I felt like I could truly let go of them and remember them with the happiness I should rather than the sorrow I did. Azrael and I grew close, I think I fell in love with him there and then, if I thought I had been in love with Alekos this humbled my feelings to the dust, but now was not the time to act upon such feeling, maybe when the empire was established, when we had the freedom to do so…maybe…but not now.

The brothers were not the only ones changed by time. Kain entered what he called the time of change. Gods I wish he had told me about it before hand. One minute we were both of us sitting in my window box talking of things that would be, the next he was on the floor dead to the world and he stayed like that for almost a month. A month! He lay there, more dead than anything else. Then he woke, rested and well, his skin tougher than it had been before, becoming more like leather than skin and said to me, it was only natural. Natural! As if it were the most normal thing in the world for him to drop like that and remain so for so long, needless to say I did not think it that natural and feared the day when I should fall like that, so unexpectedly.

That day came of course. I was walking with Rahab in the fields around the house when I felt tired. It was like something had hit me suddenly, I could not help it and I just let it take me. It was warm and comforting and when I woke three weeks later I did indeed feel as though I had slept well. For the next few days I ran around full of energy, most of it channelled into apologising to Rahab, he always seemed to be catching me whenever I fell. It took me about a week to discover how I was changed. We were sitting around the main table when Zephon knocked his goblet over, I thought that if someone caught it the blood would not spill, the goblet stopped in mid air and I found that I could hold it by a thought. Kain taught me how to utilise this ability and I could manipulate small objects with the power of my mind, he suggested that with time, with more changes my ability might enhance and so I would just have to be patient.

Then came the day, the end of our waiting. This was the day that we created the empire. All our years of planning and debate. All had led to this moment. We would start small, we would take the nearest town and offer the peasants a choice join us, serve us or die. Maybe most of them would choose to die, that was of little consequence, we would need refreshments for the campaign.

In the end it took a hell of a lot less effort than we thought it would. Dumah and Rahab went to the hunters' base. They took them all out in one attack, with the hunters gone, the villagers didn't even take a chance against us. They just surrendered there and then, swearing their loyalty to us. Considering that they had not seen vampires for centuries and were certainly not accustomed to vampire rule they surrendered far too easily. I learned later that they thought if they surrendered to us then they would survive, they would wait for the reinforcements to come and they would be free again. The reinforcements didn't come. they were never free again.

TBC


	17. Coorhagen

17 - Coorhagen

(Megara)

The taking of that town was only the beginning of a long and ardous journey. It was only now that I could fully appreciate Kain's thorough planning. I remembered when he had descended into that madness and spent weeks sitting on the balcony drawing plan after plan preparing for every possible eventuality. We soon realised that there was more to taking the village than just ridding it of the hunters. The people there had to be broken before they could be controlled. They would never have tried to take us in a direct assault but that did not stop them banding together to take subtle steps against us; small attempts at sabotage trying to undermine us and our authority until others came to aid them.

But the others wouldn't come. Kain had Rahab and Zephon to ensure that no messages left the town and no messages got in. Day and night Rahab and Zephon would take alternating shifts to ensure that nobody left that village and nobody came in. The village was completely cut off from the rest of the world, we wouldn't even let merchants in to trade. To the outside world, this was odd but nothing was done about it. Occasionally someone would venture into our domain to discover why an entire community had shut itself off from the world but they didn't last long. Many of them didn't even set foot inside the village walls. That was the beauty of Nosgoth, during the days when vampires roamed freely the towns, villages and cities had erected walls around itself making it harder for us demons to get in and prey on the populance. Even with the vampires gone the walls still stood and now we used them as they had used them against us.

It took time, even this one village took the best part of a year to finally control. But by the end of that year, the villagers danced to our tune. We were merciful, we were persuasive and anyone who stood against us was publicly silenced. Soon they realised that there was nothing they could do. Indeed some of the younger generation who had only ever heard tales of the vampire genocide were awed by our rise and joined us. By the end of that year we had created a small army of about fifty humans. We knew that some of them would not be trusted, some of them would inevitably turn on us as soon as the oppurtunity arised, but they would be of little consequence, indeed I rather hoped that for their sake they would have more sense than to take the opposition's side.

After we had taken the village, our next move would be to expand to the nearby town of Coorhagen. Coorhagen was not well populated. Many many years ago the plague had come and killed off the townsfolk. The town had since been somewhat rebuilt but not much. The streets were still sparse, the fear of the plague was still fresh in people's mind. It would fall to us easily. We could not of course leave our village unguarded and it was decided that Kain would remain with the younger of his sons while myself, Raziel, Azrael, Turel and Dumah would move into Coorhagen. Once there we would destory the exceptionally small garrison and take control as we had done a year earlier. Raziel would of course be leading the force as Kain's firstborn son and for a while we feared that Raziel would resent my presence. It soon became apparent that he did not and he appreciated my expertise. I just think he preferred having me there rather than Kain.

Coorhagen should have been less trouble than it was. We had of course been observing them from the shadows for some time and the garrison was as lazy as they were drunkards. They rarely took to the streets as was the custom elsewhere. Instead one man was sent out to wander them for as little time as was necessary, if there was trouble he would no doubt call upon his comrades for assistance, but there was rarely trouble. The population was sparse so if a vampire had descended upon them they would recognise them instantly, this was the small type of community where everybody knew everybody. If there was any kind of trouble the people would probably band together to deal with it, everybody shared the problems of everybody else. In the end we thought that it would be quite easy to go in under cover of darkness and take the town before they realised what was going on.

Isn't it funny how things never work out? The night was clear, too clear. As we entered the city Raziel shot me the most cautious of glances, there were no clouds in the sky and the naked moon shone down upon us illuminating the streets and us along with it. We had hoped that the cloudy skies would assist us, under them we would be almost invisible not like this, in clear sight of anyone who cared to looked. Raziel beckoned us all into a nearby alley and we crowded around him while Azrael stood, peering around the corner lest we should be seen or stumbled upon.

"Damnation," muttered Dumah, flexing his hand in the moonlight to demonstrate how clear it was. "What shall we do?"

The brothers muttered among themselves trying to think of ways we could conceal ourselves, I just rolled my eyes and forced my way into the circle they had formed. "Have you forgotten everything we taught you?" I hissed at them, some of them exchanged awkward glances. "I taught you to hunt in the sun, why is this any different?"

Turel looked uncomfortable as he replied, "This is completely different, hunting is different to taking a town for our Lord."

I returned his stare for a moment incredulously as I realised that it was not just the clear night that bothered them. They were afraid. Not of the villagers or the moonlight that exposed us for what we were but of failing. When Kain had been with them at the last town Kain had led the attack and directed the forces. They hadn't done anything like this on their own before. Now they had planned to the smallest detail and now that something had been changed they could not see how to adapt. I could have laughed at them. The oldest and best of the new order. These were the vampires who would lead the empire and here they were cowering round corners lest someone should see them and spoil their carefully thought out plans further.

Needless to say I was not amused.

"There's someone coming," Azrael muttered. I almost laughed aloud when I saw the brothers hang back, but then realised that they were genuinely scared. They feared that they would be discovered and as a result they would not be able to take the town. The element of surprise was everything to them and without it, they refused to move. I decided that they would not move if their faith in themselves could not be confirmed and they would need a push in the right direction to do this.

I glanced around the corner to see who was coming. A young man carrying a ragged spear, he was probably on his way to the barracks after a short and unfulfilling patrol. I glanced back at my brothers who looked as though they would not be moving any time soon. "Cowards," I muttered barely audible but I knew they would have caught it, I was gone before they could react in any case. I leapt from my place on the ground up onto the rooftop above me, my agility and ability to jump had increased over the years so I managed this leap easily, I must have seemed little more than a dark blur to my comrades on the ground. I landed lightly on the roof of the house we had hidden behind and I carefully made my way to the edge. I would take out this single mortal who had inconvenianced my plans so. I was having a hard time grasping the attitudes of my brothers, they were the superior beings and yet they were afraid of this one man who they feared would expose them. They were nervous about failure yet they did not realise that if they did not overcome this fear and move then they would inevitably fail through lack of action. The man was near the corner now, I moved quickly but silently to the edge of the roof, preparing to drop down from above. Before I could do this, Rahab surprised me by stepping out and slitting the man's throat. I faltered and almost lost my balance, if I had jumped the blade meant for the human would cut Rahab. The man gargled and choked before finally falling to his knees, a veritable pool of black blood going to waste as it seeped into a nearby drain. The sound of it dripping against the water within echoed in the silent streets making it sound like the town had suddenly gained a water feature in their main street.

Rahab smiled up at me and I jumped down to him. His brothers were looking at him with a mixture of annoyance and disbelief but I couldn't stop smiling. I knew that if I left it too long they would lose this moment of confidence reborn and I would be stuck with a bunch of scared children again so I immediatelty turned to them, "Raziel, take Dumah and Azrael to the barracks kill them quietly and quickly. Turel you go to the main gate, stop anyone from escaping. Rahab and I will take care of the villagers. Turel looked slightly annoyed that he was being placed on little more than guard duty but they followed my commands nonetheless.

"Why did you do that?" I asked as soon as my brothers had gone to do their duty.

Rahab gave me a bemused smile as he answered with the typical wisdom beyond his years, "If you had killed that man it would have proved that you could kill him and you were not afraid, if I did it it proves to them that the youngest of them believes enough to fight. They will go on now and do what we came to do because they will not wish to be upstaged by myself."

Rahab could impress without trying but I felt now he had now outdone himself. I did not say another word about it, I would never have to. Maybe it was because Rahab was the first of the brothers who had been solely trained by myself. I had been there at his birth I had helped him through the transitions of a vampires' life while Kain had started implementing his plans for the world. Rahab and I shared a bond unlike anything I had with the others and at times like these that I appreciated it for what it was.

We took up positions at the opposite end of the town, it was small and quiet so we would be able to hear if not see what was going on. It was eerie to know that as we stood there in absolute silence the town was slipping slowly into our hands. As we stood there on the edge of town Raziel, Azrael and Dumah were taking out the only defence this place had against us. We could not have been standing there for more than ten minutes when successive screams pierced the silence. They shattered the air like glass and seemed to hang there, surrounding us and summoning the village to the barracks. Rahab and I barely had time to exchange glances before doors started opening with such force they slammed against the walls filling the streets with the sound of a dozen bangs loud enough to sound like cannon fire. The townspeople rushed to the aid of their defenders, though all of them must have been confused as to what was causing the hunters such distress. Even those closest to myself and Rahab paid us not a second glance as they dashed to the centre of the town.

"Stay here," I said briefly without a look at my brother. The crowd was flocking through the main street and would gather at the front of the barracks. I cut through the back street to come up behind it and hoped Turel had the good sense not to move from his post should anyone try to escape the town. I turned a corner and stopped dead at the sight before me. The people had indeed come to the same place, they were all gathered at the barrack's front doors and that had been their mistake. Raziel stood at the front of the barracks holding the head of what looked like the lead hunter, behind the crowd I could see Dumah and Azrael on the right and left respectively boxing them in. Turel could be seen still standing at the front gate so there was no chance of escaping. Each of them had drawn their swords and they had bared their fangs, I had to admit they looked quite frightening. Raziel was saying something but I couldn't make it out even though the crowd was listening in rapt silence filled with fear. I moved in closer, drawing my sword as I went to follow the example of my brothers. I hadn't even taken three steps towards them when one of the humans leapt at Raziel. I stopped and held my breath, my grip tightened on my blade, I would wait a few seconds to see how ugly this would turn and how quickly but instead Raziel just caught the man by his throat and threw him down. The man's head crashed into the ground with a sickening crunch that turned even my stomach.

"As I was saying!" Raziel's voice bellowed over the mass of hushed voices of protest heavily mingled with fear, "You have two choices; you will join us or you will die. Some of you will die here by example, the rest will be food for us during our glorious campaign. Either way from this moment on this town belongs to us and you will serve us." He threw the head down, it landed purposely beside the other fallen man. "Now," he said in a softer tone a thousand times more smug, "Does anyone else wish to object?"

The humans muttered amongst themselves but nobody moved. They knew they were beaten, they had no weapons and they could not take us on in strength alone. From the looks on many faces they could not quite comprehend what was happening and some of them must have thought it was a dream. Raziel looked back towards me and I saw then that all this he had planned. He had killed the leader of the hunters in the street and directed Dumah and Azrael accordingly. It was all a ploy to demonstrate our power and announce when they were at their most unsuspecting, many of them still in their nightclothes, that we were now master here.

TBC


	18. Sacred Ground

Chapter 18 - Sacred Ground

_30 years later_

(Megara)

"They're coming!" the scream came from beside me, "Kain save us they're coming!"

Without taking my eyes off the army advancing towards us I thrust my hand out and grabbed the blubbering idiot by the neck. I brought him within and inch of my face, "I can see that!" I shouted with equal volume as his screams into his face. Dropping him at my feet I returned my gaze to the army, "Turel!" I snapped, "Control your brood. They will not serve us well here otherwise." I felt Turel's stare burn into me, no doubt he was annoyed that I had named his children as cowards here of all places. But this was the battle we had all been working our way up to. I was not as arrogant to think that this would be the last battle, the final stand of the humans they would no doubt rise again in an attempt to regain some of the land we had taken from them. Nevertheless if we won this battle then we would control all of Nosgoth, yes there would be rebellions and revolts but still, this battle marked the last struggle for complete domination of this world. I think my brothers would forgive me for being somewhat tetchy.

It had been thirty two long years since we set the dice rolling and now here at Avernus the dice would finally fall.

Since the taking of Coorhagen the conquest had gone better than we would have imagined it. Once Coorhagen was broken we moved onto Vasserbunde which fell easier than any of the others. We used the surrounding ruins as bases from which to advance, indeed Dumah was quite taken with them and I knew that when it came to divide the territories he would lay first claim to what Kain told me had once been Malek's Bastion. From there we expanded to Steinchencröe and Nachtholm. Thankfully there was no need for fighting here, these were poor towns and they preferred the quality of life our servants received to that of their own. Kain knew that the risk of rebellion would be reduced if the humans were happy...well relatively happy at least. Every merchant in Nosgoth worked for Kain; he paid them well, exceptionally well, for their services. They kept him supplied with everything that the humans would need; food, clothing, household goods, tools. Kain had always said that controlling the merchants would make the campaign a hundred times easier. Food and textiles were increasingly difficult to come upon if you did not serve the master, many humans flocked to us before we had even reached their abodes just because they and their families were starving to death in clothes they had been wearing for years. Later we had an even greater advantage; the rains just stopped. There was no reason for it, it just failed to rain one year and then the next and then the one after that. Nosgoth was falling into poverty and we held the only way out. To begin with some merchants refused Kain's offer until they realised that the competition was too great. They would have to raise their prices to ridiculous measures that no one but the richest of the humans could afford to make even the absolute minimal of profits. In the end they all came back to us, begging that we employ them and the _gracious_ Kain, the _kind_ Kain would always indulge. Steinchencröe and Nachtholm had never been rich towns and the lack of cheap trade hit them hard. The hunters put up some resistance but realised the idiocy of their actions when they saw us on the horizon. Raziel and myself rode into the town to the cheers and blessing of the townspeople.

We made short work of Ziegstuhl and within three years of taking that first village we had complete control of West Nosgoth. Kain did not need to accompany us on many of these earlier campaigns. He knew that the larger towns, Avernus and Willendorf would be won by all of us working together and so he wanted us to have as much experience against the humans in this manner as possible. On occasion he would assist if his sons asked him, though they rarely needed to, not in those days. Instead I went in his stead, except for just one time. Neither of us were present for Ziegstuhl, neither of us felt the need. Raziel was placed completely in charge for once and to be fair he did impress us. Meanwhile Kain took me to the pillars; the focal point of his new regime. He had made plans to build here a great building where his sons would gather for a council of the clans and where Kain would rule on high. The pillars themselves would form the throne room with the pillar of balance in the centre; becoming Kain's throne itself. It seemed fitting.

Kain wanted to start construction immediately just so that we would have a permanent base of operations from the beginning but we knew that it would not work that well. We could not divert manpower to the building of this colossus until we knew the world was in our hands. Instead we created smaller but effective bases throughout Nosgoth. Turel manned the north, he took the volcanic territory of Dark Eden. There was little of value there just some ruins but it gave tremendous strategic advantage, wherever we went the humans would always have to divide their forces in case we received reinforcements from the north. From Dark Eden we sent a significant force to occupy what was once known as the land of the Nemesis. Once that was assured, we held the west and the north giving us two fronts from which to attack from.

By now Kain, myself and my brothers were not the only vampires. Raziel's creation of Azrael was just the beginning as we all knew it would be. Each of the sons now had a first born and in turn each of those had a first born and so it continued that way. Kain did not make any more even though it was well within his power. He would never again need to use his soul to resurrect the long dead as he could create from humans as easily as the rest of them but he would none. His sons never questioned it but they did question it of myself; for I had not created either and for the while I did not intend to. The brothers were in constant contact with the humans who fought for us and it was from these that the clans were being born. The humans fought alongside my vampire brothers impressing them with their spirit and loyalty, inevitably they forged unlikely friendships and through these the first of our great race were created. My relationships with the humans were minimal. I gave them orders on the battlefield and on occasion sat with them while we waited for the enemy to come or at to congratulate them at the end so they knew how valuable they were to us. Apart from that I had no human friends or even companions with the exception of the servants who frequented my chamber. I was Kain's liason to the brothers and the brothers were my liasons to the humans. I had no one whom I depended on to an extent I would be inclined to bless with our gift. Besides thus far I had no inclination to take a land for my own and start a clan there. My only desire was to serve Kain at his side and Kain had expressed no desire for me to leave.

Our now mixed armies of vampires and humans were a formidable force. As news of our conquest spread through the world, the towns began to raise their own makeshift armies and defences to prevent us from taking their town as easily as we had the West. As our forces advanced the leader of the town defence would always shout out to us, beseeching our human soldiers to turn on their vampire oppressors and be forgiven their sins; after all they only did what they did out of fear of us. After the enemy's little speech I would turn to the humans in our midst and offer them one chance and one chance only to join the opposition without fear of being harmed. I would not force them to fight for us.

Nobody ever moved.

They knew it was far from their best interest. They knew that we would show no mercy and those who betrayed us would suffer a fate worse than those who merely defended their hometown, at least the deaths there would be quick. Besides is they did leave us and chose to flee, they could only prolong their suffering at best. We would catch up with them eventually and take the towns they had sheltered in and until then they would have nothing to eat and little to drink. It was in everyone's best interests to stay with us. We needed them to some extent but not nearly enough as much as they needed us.

We planned to take the eastern towns and then take Willendorf or Avernus whichever fell in our sight first. In the end it was Willendorf who decided to move against us but not when we expected it . We had divided our forces in two, one group would take Uschtenheim and the other would storm Stahlberg. The latter were ambushed. I was with them when it happened, I was flitting between the two having developed the ever useful ability to teleport between areas many years previous. Stahlberg fell easily, as it transpired too easily and as soon as we secured the town an army to rival our own appeared around us blocking us inside the town walls. For a moment there was panic. They charged us and caught us completely off guard, added to that we had just secured the town and as such were hardly secure in our rule. For that briefest of moments I feared that they had us. It was the first time the humans had come to us with outright rebellion. But I soon saw how to turn their impudence against them. I left Raziel and Dumah to take care of them with explicit instructions not to let them retreat regardless of circumstance. Meanwhile I used my ability to take myself to the other battle where Kain himself had deigned to appear. After a brief word or two to him I could see he thought of the same plan as I. They would make short work of Uschtenheim and once done they would advance with unparalleled haste to Willendorf. It was not as we planned the campaign but we could not pass up such a perfect opportunity. They themselves had lowered their defence of one of their largest cities in the vain hope that they could defeat us before we moved on but they had not counted on the division of our forces. As we held their forces in Stahlberg Kain left Turel in charge of subjugating the recently conquered town while taking the rest of the men down to Willendorf. They were far more stupid than we gave them credit for. They had left the bare minimum of guards to protect what had once been the shining jewel of King Ottman. They put up a fair fight at Stahlberg but they fought more with desperation than skill and so they were swiftly defeated. Unlike the smaller towns Willendorf sported soldiers rather than ragged hunters and they refused to turn. It was a shame that they did not join us, it would have saved time on training them but they would none and eventually they all died; food to fuel the campaign.

Finally the last thing that stood in the way of our complete conquest was Avernus. All deserters and survivors gathered there for the last stand. We knew that the people of Avernus would never surrender, not with the priests urging them on and putting fear of God to them. Nor would they fall by a direct assault, it was too well fortified; they could hold us off for an age from the ruined cathedral and so we resolved to let them come to us. Kain led us to the mansion which had once belonged to Vorador; a legend of older days. It was ruined and deserted now but with a little renovation we managed to turn it into a decent base. We levelled the forest that separated us from Avernus and used the wood to create a forward base. We blocked off the path we had created and built fortifications. From the gate to Vorador's mansion we built makeshift barracks for the humans and vampires alike to sleep in. It took us two years to build the structure and defend ourselves from occasional raiding parties from Avernus designed not to destroy us just to annoy us. They were annoying but like all annoyances a sound beating would knock them down a peg.

And now we were here.

_"They're coming!" the scream came from beside me, "Kain save us they're coming."_

I could see them. There were hundreds of them all in pristine white armour. They marched towards us in perfect unison; their combined footsteps sounding like the cry of war drums. "Form rank!" I shouted without the need to look behind me. I knew they were trained well enough to not need supervision at this late stage. The barrack doors flew open as the men hurried into position armed and ready. Within a minute I turned to see the entire army formed in perfectly formed lines. I nodded to Raziel who in turn shouted for Melchiah, "Form the support," I heard him say. The army had stopped by now. They were waiting for us to come out. Two men were striding towards the centre point between our base and their forces. Raziel and I descended the stairs to join the front of the army. I was about to shout for them to open the gates when Kain shouted for it over us. He joined us at the front dressed for battle…which granted was little more than what he usually wore. He wore the usual leather trousers with a red sash across his chest, a large, golden brooch engraved with his family crest pinned at it's centre and a red cloak on his back covered only by the Soul Reaver. Raziel and I fell in beside him; Raziel on his right and myself on his left. The gates opened and the three of us crossed the empty land to meet the enemy. Behind us we could hear the Melchium and Rahabim archers fall into line on the structure I had been standing just a few moments ago.

"Kain," the enemy commander said curtly. Kain inclined his head slightly. "There is no need for us to waste needless lives here I am sure we can come to some kind of agreement."

Kain smirked, "Of course we are both reasonable men I'm sure. So you can guarantee the surrender of Avernus?"

The man laughed, "Now now Kain, we are here to compromise."

Kain frowned, "Then you are going to surrender your army to me and I shall take Avernus anyway?"

Still the man did not understand. There was no point to his words, Kain would never compromise or surrender. The man had stopped laughing instead he was scowling, "We shall never surrender," he said firmly.

"Then we have nothing more to discuss," Kain said finally, "You shall surrender or you shall die."

"Then you shall die," Kain said, uncompromisingly. The man looked as though he was about to say something but eventually closed his mouth and said nothing. Kain nodded with a sense of finality and turned to leave.

"Wait!" the commander shouted. Kain glanced back but didn't turn. The man looked around desperately, "Kain please, you cannot do this to us. We are the last free place in Nosgoth, Spare us, please."

Kain raised a single eyebrow, "Spare you? Shall I rule some of Nosgoth but leave the rest untouched? A place for deserters to escape to? A place for the humans to undermine my authority? Did the humans spare any of the vampires they so mercilessly hunted less than half a decade ago? At least my campaign has been merciful to your kind. Yes I shall spare them but Avernus shall be mine and you, should you survive, will bow to me." He turned his face back to our base and started walking away. Raziel and I faced the men followed suit, walking backwards as a sign of our distrust though we knew they would not be able to harm our lord.

We stopped short of the gates and we heard Turel shout, "Move out!" Our own forces filed out of the gates and fell into rank behind us. Opposite us through the darkness we could see the enemy beginning their march towards us, each of them holding their sword upwards flat against their chest with the blades almost touching their faces. The men behind us started fidgeting ready to run forward to engage. "I don't have to tell you humans what happens if you desert," Kain shouted to the men, I trust you not to be so stupid!"

"We're with you Kain!" someone shouted from the very back and I could tell from the sound of his voice that he was human. This shout was echoed by other humans voicing their loyalty to Kain. He would not show it but I could see he was smiling, not for the assured victory but because of their support I'm sure. In the end Kain didn't need to do the usual battle rousing speech, the humans in the army did it for him. Their shouts rose as one and soon I realised our vampire sons were shouting too. Kain looked over to me and the three of us drew our swords together. The enemy army was picking up speed so we started our own march. Soon both forces were running full speed towards each other before finally we clashed.

This was not like the other battles we fought. This would go one for days maybe weeks, when the sun rose we would fall back as would they. We would recover our dead as would they and then the following night the battle would resume. Everything was going fine before something happened to shift the battle in their favour.

It rained.

TBC


	19. Stabbed in the Back

Chapter 19 - Stabbed in the Back

(Megara)

"God damn the weather!" I screamed throwing my armour against the wall, following it with my sword. Kain was sitting in the corner of the room looking up at me from his book, evidently bemused by my outburst. "I hate the rain and I hate this place! If I don't get into Avernus soon I swear I'll…" I broke off, I had no idea what I would do. I could threaten to kill someone but I was killing them daily and in the dozens. I think I just wanted to shout a lot.

"We shall still win, Meg, save your anger for the battlefield," Kain said with all the calm that he usually possessed. The rain had not dampened his spirits as it had my own and my brothers. We had fought a good battle for some days; dare I say we had been winning? The enemy's morale was breaking with every loss. They knew they were beaten, they were the last free city in Nosgoth. They could hold us off but they could never win. We had the rest of the world behind us and yet still they fought. Now that the rain had come we were vulnerable. We would not lose of course, but morale was dropping. The enemy had smuggled people into our ranks trying to coax our human men to join them. '_The vampires cannot last in the rain_,' they muttered, knowing that the rain stopped us from coming out to find them, '_with your help we can put up a greater fight_.' I was glad that our humans were not that stupid. Oh they got some alright, the occasional one who bought into their madness and wanted to escape us. Of course the rest of them realised that the rain was a temporary delay. If they deserted us now during these few days of rain then we shall slaughter them all during the next few days of sunshine. Most of the men had fought with us for years and had been well rewarded for it. Some of us even had friends among them. I was not afraid of losing, I was not afraid of deserters I was just sick to death of rain.

The rain was like acid to us but we had found a adequate solution. When the blood flowed as freely as it did on the battlefield we drank deeply, healing ourselves against the irritation that was the weather. It was not the best of ideas but it worked. Our presence on the field encouraged our own men and disheartened theirs. Back in the makeshift barracks we had constructed only myself and Rahab could mingle with the men. I did not have to step into the rain to talk to the humans, I could just teleport myself into their midst and teleport out again without getting wet. Rahab seemed to have developed almost a liking for the rain, it burned him as it did the others, though not as badly and he did not seem to notice. He seemed to enjoy it in any case probably because he could tolerate it when the others could not. They spent their time off the battlefield in their rooms not wandering outside for fear of burning.

Kain's resolve was still as strong as ever. He knew that morale was less than what it could be and so occasionally even he visited the men and assured them of their rewards that awaited them in the city of Avernus. Now that his childrens' abilities on the battlefield had been weakened he joined us everyday killing twice that as any other soldier. The rain still affected him on some level but it took a great deal of exposure before he started to notice it.

I dropped down onto the pathetic excuse for a bed and started kicking the walls absent-mindedly. Normally the rooms for myself, my brothers and certainly Kain would have been done up like a palace. This time Kain had insisted on adequate accommodation instead of comfortable, as he did not think we would be there long enough to enjoy it. I was starting to regret his decision. The rats gnawed at the beds and the covers and I was itching for the silken sheets that I enjoyed in the luxury in which we normally lived.

I heard Kain sigh and he put his book aside. He turned his chair to face me, "you can return to Dark Eden if you wish. Take Turel with you, God knows he could not make it more obvious he wants to leave."

I looked at him wide eyed, certainly I hated it here but I could not leave him, "I'm not going," I said firmly, "I hate everything about this whole situation but I have been fighting for you since the beginning and I shall not leave you at the end."

I knew that he knew that would be my answer but to my surprise he pressed the issue, "I worry for your sanity," he replied honestly. I sat up in bed, suddenly disturbed about where the conversation was taking us.

"My sanity?" I laughed, "I'm fine," I hesitated, "Well I admit I'm going a little stir crazy but that's nothing. I'm fine really. I'm not going to Dark Eden. I'm more likely to go insane in Dark Eden with only Turel for company than I am here to be honest."

He chuckled. He had never laughed very much but he had done so even less now. I remembered the days where we had all lived in that manor house and he would watch my brothers' antics with a smile. A part of me ached for those days. We had not been as powerful as we were now and we did not have the following we had now. But there was something sad in the thought that we would never live like that again. As soon as we had set our campaign in motion we started a journey that would end in my brothers scattered and separated across Nosgoth imposing our reign upon the humans.

Kain smiled at me and moved to sit beside me. He drew me against him and I let myself rest against his chest. At least I would always have Kain. I cast my mind back to the days when we would chase each other around our home before we even had my brothers. It was the only time Kain ever deigned himself to such childish games and though he occasionally joined my brothers in their mischief and mock fights it was not the same.

Grief I was nostalgic tonight!

We sat like that for a while. Kain sitting on the bed with his arm around me as I rested against him. There was no need for words between us, we had no desire to fill the void with conversation, the silence was comfortable to us. It was broken of course, as all silences inevitably are by a faint knocking at the door. Kain immediately released me and returned to his chair. He would never show anyone the true affection we held for each other, he felt it would betray a weakness in him, which could be exploited. At first I thought he was being stupid but then realised that I was the only thing he held truly dear to him and would stop at nothing to find me if he thought his enemies were hurting me.

I fell back against the bed certain that the messenger would be for Kain not myself and was pleasantly surprised when Rahab stepped inside. Kain immediately stood and welcomed his son, offering him a dry cloth to wipe the flecks of blood where the rain had pattered against him.

"My lord," he said by way of greeting complete with a bow. "My brothers and I have been talking and we think we have come up with a way to push the odds in our favour."

Kain set the book he had been nursing in his lap aside and leaned forward in his chair to listen. He gestured for Rahab to sit; there was no chair for him so he pushed himself up onto a table instead. "My lord the enemy leaders are trying to undermine our morale by suggesting that the rain is hurting us more than it actually is. Although they are doing little in the way of depleting their numbers I am sure you can appreciate that they are becoming a nuisance we could do without right now." He paused for a brief moment and when he was satisfied Kain agreed with him so far he continued. "Without these leaders the rumours would stop and indeed their morale would plummet. If we are lucky enough it is these men who keep the campaign going and without them their offensive will be crippled and we can force them to terms."

Kain nodded throughout, "but we cannot get close enough to the enemy officers. They hang at the back at the very gates of Avernus and we should have to force our way through a hundred soldiers or so to get near enough to kill them. If we could kill that many in one fell swoop then the battle would be ours anyway."

Rahab caught my eye and we both smiled, it was obvious to me now what he was planning. "Meg can teleport within the enemy camp and kill the leaders."

There was silence for a moment as Kain turned the implications of this over. "An interesting plan Rahab," he conceded, "but have you considered the danger to Meg? You propose to send her into the heart of enemy territory without protection or reinforcements to navigate her way through a camp of soldiers. How is she to know where the leaders are based or that she can get past their guards to kill them. Or that she can get out again without notice?"

I was touched by Kain's concern. The thought of teleporting into the camp had crossed both our minds before but only as a passing thought, we had not thought it safe enough to entertain as a strategy.

"One of the prisoners we took last night is willing to tell us the layout of the enemy camp and the points where Meg would be safe to work from in exchange for his life." Rahab replied, "I trust him not to be lying to us my lord."

Kain laughed aloud but it was not one of joy but of surprise, "you trust him? And what makes you think we can believe a word he says and this is not a trap to capture one of our own?"

"He knows what will happen to him if he is lying, he will suffer for centuries. He cannot imagine the tortures we can inflict upon him if he betrays us. Besides he knows there is much to gain from our favour and I think he fancies a position in the empire when we are done here."

Kain seemed satisfied; it was not uncommon for the enemy soldiers to come to us with useful information in return for a place in Kain's great empire that they would have heard much about. He glanced over at me for my opinion but I merely shrugged. I would do it if he wished it of me and I would not if he decided against it. I was his to command my opinion was of little import.

"Tonight then," he decided, still looking at me. He turned to Rahab, "God knows we are all weary of this war. Get that human to draw a map and remind him that if it is but an inch off course then he will be tortured on a level he did not know possible for a millennia." Rahab jumped up from the table and bowed before leaving the room with the ghost of a smile at me.

I watched him leave when I realised Kain's eyes were upon me. "You do not mind?" he asked. I shook my head and rose from the bed, I would need to prepare. "Good," he stood with me, "you will teleport from there if you suspect anything amiss. I mean anything! I shall not lose you to the enemy, you are too valuable."

"They must know by now that the firstborn of your brood would make an indispensable hostage." I replied. I realised later I had misunderstood his meaning but he did not correct me. Instead he helped me don my battle garb and even polished my sword for me while I hunted for my daggers should I need a backup weapon. We lived in little more than a hut and yet I could still find a way to lose things.

By the time Rahab had come back with his makeshift map I was long ready. I could not say how I felt. I was in no real danger, after all should they move against me and it was a trap then I could just teleport back out again. My reflexes were far superior and I would easily avoid them. Nonetheless my stomach was churning. There was something distinctly unnerving about throwing myself into the enemy camp.

(Kain)

She could not teleport from our position. Instead she would have to make her way to the very walls of Avernus before she could appear within them and even then she would have to be exact. That human's map would have to be accurate indeed for her to envision her destination. She stood at the edge of the wall we had built and took a deep breath. She was nervous I knew.

So was I.

I would not put her in this situation if I did not think she could succeed without chance of failing. She glanced back at me and smiled her special smile that was reserved for me. I nodded my encouragement and she dropped silently to the ground beyond. I entertained the thought of following her; I could teleport and watch over her but then we increased the risk of capture. I could not imagine what would happen if they caught her. I had lost her a number of times in the past and each time had been like a death. My own conviction that she was dead had stopped me tearing apart Nosgoth to find her, but if she were in the hands of the enemy and they attempted to use her as a bargaining chip then I think I should go mad with rage. She was my first, she was my right hand, she did more for me than I thought she ever could and I would not lose her now or ever.

"How long do you think she will be?" Rahab asked me quietly as if the enemy would hear his words.

I turned away from him to my room, "as long as it takes her," I muttered and closed myself away from him.

I tried to read but I could not concentrate. It made little sense to me, I knew with all my soul she would succeed and yet my stomach refused to listen. I threw the book aside and took to pacing. In the end I went down into the makeshift hall we had built where the humans would gather after the battle. I spoke to them and encouraged them. I listened to their stories of how many they had killed that day and how they longed for the day I ruled Nosgoth. I had been good to them, they said, I would be a kind master to those who had served me and I, with a benevolent smile assured them they were right.

Meg had been gone for over an hour when I heard her scream. It was in my mind but as clear as if she had been standing beside me. Something had gone wrong but I could not help but marvel that she seemed to have discovered the ability to 'whisper'. '_Bastard, Bastard, BASTARD_!' Her voice shouted angrily. She continued to curse and I felt relieved that she was obviously not in trouble.

Distress yes trouble no.

I wanted to whisper back to her, to ask her what was wrong but as quickly as she appeared in my mind she was gone again. I made my apologies to the men for not staying longer and returned to the battlements to wait for her. The rain was but a faint drizzle now and I saw Rahab and Dumah out on the wall looking to the field already. Part of me wondered if in her moment of anger she had unlocked the ability and sent her curses throughout the minds of her brothers. I would have asked but her return was far more important for now.

Dumah pointed to a dark shadow moving across the black ground, "there!" he alerted us, but before we could react he had already dropped down to find her hardly noticing the pitter patter of acid on his skin.

"Open the gates!" he shouted from below and with my permission the guards pulled them open. Rahab and I went to the lower level to help them should they need it. Dumah was half carrying her and even from a distance I could hear her swearing consistently under her breath.

"Did you do it?" Rahab asked urgently.

She glared at him, her eyes bright with anger, "Yes I did it!" she snapped, "but one of the bastards slept with a knife in his bed! He got me in the back as I was leaving, apparently I didn't kill him hard enough the first time!" She kicked the ground as she spoke. I could tell she was more annoyed than angry and yet I could not understand why. She received more wounds than that on the battlefield where they hacked at her flesh. Dumah caught my eye and I could see he was just as confused as I was.

"Didn't you heal?" I asked. If she had been stabbed the wound would have been fleeting as soon as she removed the dagger.

She spun around and a sense of realisation dawned upon us. The knife had been thrust deep into her back on the left side of her spine, just out of the reach of her arms. Instantly Rahab removed it and save for a small scream of discomfort she seemed happier. The wound healed instantly, she had obviously feasted well over there.

"It's done," Rahab confirmed eagerly wondering if her injury was enough to cause an early return but she nodded positively and returned to my room no doubt to rest. She was asleep by the time I joined her, the force of teleporting while struggling against the pain of the knife must have drained her considerably for she did not wake until late in the morning.

Despite this she was there at my side when the newly appointed enemy general came to our hall with the news that their beloved leaders had been tragically slain in their beds (probably by traitorous humans in their camp) and the soldiers had agreed this was a losing battle. They would surrender the city to us and throw themselves at our feet; if we spared them then they would serve us as well as any other.

The last city had fallen, Nosgoth was ours.

TBC


	20. A Sanctuary

Chapter 20 – A Sanctuary

(Kain)

Thirty five years was a fraction of the time I thought it would take to retake Nosgoth. I suppose I should have expected it, once I created a thriving economy everyone fell into line it seemed. We just had to clear out the rebels before we could fully establish our rule. The submission of Avernus was by no means the last battle we faced but it secured our rule over the humans. Any rebellion that broke out was small, easily contained and eliminated. The people wanted us too much. I could not expect that sentiment to last. No doubt they would grow disgruntled with servitude over time but for the moment they were happy. I offered them service yes but they were rewarded for their work. The loyal were given homes and food, they wanted for nothing. To some extent this was true with those who hated us. The people who served us because they had to rather than wanted to, were still given the benefits as those who worshipped us. Of course the latter were given more menial jobs so we would not have to listen to their complaints.

It was by no means perfect, I had not created a world where human and vampires co existed in a sort of peace but I had created a world where we were not fighting at least. Those who had fallen to us and resented us could do no real harm. They would grumble, they would complain but they could do nothing against us.

I remained in Avernus for a year or so after they fell to us. The people there were among those who resented us, they thought themselves the last free city in Nosgoth and though it had been a losing battle from the beginning they would not bend to our will so easily. I split these groups up, dividing them between my sons who by now had assumed control of an area of land and governed in my name.

It had all fallen into place with the conquest of Avernus. The humans had no where left to flee to and had no choice but to accept their place in the new order of things. With my presence in Avernus there was no need for my sons to remain and so they divided the newly conquered lands between them. Of course as we had progressed through the country it had become obvious who would claim what. Indeed along the way they had even prepared for the occasion where they would take their rightful places and some had made provisions for their palaces to be built before Nosgoth was fully conquered. They had used minimal manpower to fulfil this task of course but it had made the homecoming a little easier, with somewhere ready built and furnished for them to direct their operations from.

Megara had disappeared for much of my time in Avernus. She would not tell me where she spent weeks sometimes months of her time but I knew. She was directing the construction of my own abode down at the pillars. She tried to keep it a secret from me and it was not through any fault of her own that I realised the truth. There was just no other alternative for where she insisted on disappearing too. She had declined the offer of land for herself and her brothers did not require her presence that desperately. I was touched by her desire to have the sanctuary I had envisioned all those years ago readily prepared for my arrival so I would not have to concern myself with it further and could move on with life, ruling as I did from on high.

I discovered through the grapevine that she had borrowed (or stolen as Turel aptly put it) the best artisans from each village and had set them to work on this great undertaking. I would never let on that I knew exactly what she was doing and had every intention of acting surprised when I finally saw it. However I also wanted her to be surprised. So I let it known to her brothers who would in turn no doubt mention it to the builders that in the palace I one day hoped to live in, when I finally got around to constructing it I would have a full suite of rooms for Meg next to my own.

Meg had made her decision to stay with me and I intended for her to be treated with the same respect as her brothers even though she did not command her own territory. She had always made it clear that she would not leave my side but I admit my heart soared when she made that decision final by declining the opportunity to take her own territory and rule it in my stead. She could have taken the land nearest to my own and seen me often but she would none. She wanted nothing more than to live with me in my sanctuary and help me with the daily workings of being Lord of Nosgoth.

As a human I had often wondered what it would be like to have children. If I had not met my demise so young then I would probably have married some faceless noblewoman and she would have given me children but I doubt we would have been as close as Meg and I were now. She was obviously the favourite of my brood. I valued her brothers yes, I might even feel some kind of fatherly love for them but they had their purpose. They would be my lieutenants, ruling the land in my name while I directed them. Meg was the unknown in all this, she never had a purpose and yet I could not imagine life without her now; my beloved daughter. Maybe one day I would tell her what she meant to me, but for now I think she knew.

Then the day came where I left Avernus. My presence had prevented any further uprising and preparations had been made for the land to be absorbed into Rahab's territory. Names like Avernus, Coorhagen and Dark Eden were disappearing while words like 'Turelim', 'Razielim' and 'Melchium' were becoming more common. I think it was Raziel who started this trend, he mentioned something to me once about putting our mark on the world, he didn't want people to know the places they once knew just under a new regime. He wanted the names gone so they would grow to forget that they had ever been free and that they could be free again perhaps. I let him continue and it seemed his ideas had been picked up on by the other brothers. The towns, villages and cities had their names completely eradicated and once again Avernus was the last to fall.

Meg of course was there to accompany me on the journey to the pillars, from where I would take up the crown and rule as overlord. She would never need to spend such time away from me now. From the smile she tried to conceal I knew that the sanctuary had been completed and that I should have to act pleasantly surprised to not disappoint her. In the end I did not have to act. On the contrary the sight took my breath away.

The building before me was magnificent. It completely encompassed the pillars and the area around it. We had arrived just in time, dusk had arrived setting the sandstone walls a glow. For a while I just stared at it, it was far more beautiful than I could ever have envisioned.

"Are you going to stare at it all day or do you want to look inside?" Meg's quiet voice cut through my frozen state of awe. When I looked at her she was grinning from one ear to the other. I still could not speak, instead I just nodded and she led the way inside.

The whole thing was built out of the same light coloured stone giving the impression that the rooms, although spacious, appeared larger than they were. The ceilings were high and red cloths emblazoned with my family crest hung above us. There were suites for all my sons, with a chamber for them, a receiving room and quarters for anyone they chose to bring with them. Here y emblem had been replaced with those that my sons had chosen for themselves and their portraits hung on the walls.

Finally she showed me to the throne room, by far the largest room in the complex. It was beautifully decorated with marble and towards the back but still commanding attention were the pillars. And there set at the base of the balance pillar was my throne. Almost in a trance I crossed the floor and took my place. Meg was still standing at the other side of the chamber so I could fully appreciate the distance between us. As if to demonstrate a point she called to me and yet the sound was lost to me. "What?!" I shouted back. I could see her laughing,

"What do you think?!" she called. I also gave in to laughter, I knew she was trying to prove a point and she knew exactly what I thought. I motioned for her to join me, which she did, albeit through the mode of teleportation further exaggerating the size of the room. She stood "Well?" she asked looking at me with a soft smile, knowing that she did not need to ask that question.

"It's wonderful," I said simply, and it was, it truly was. I had spent years planning this building down to the last detail and yet now that it was here around me I could not quite believe its magnificence.

It was perfect.

"That's not all," she said, moving away from the throne. I rose with her and saw that there was a side door leading out of the throne room far more inconspicuous than the massive double doors leading in. The hall before me was smaller than the others and along the walls hung portraits of my sons and above them the respective crests. There was a small wooden door at the end of the hall and as we entered I understood where we were. This part of the building was purely for my own use. There were a number of rooms that I would later decorate and personalise, until then Meg had furnished a receiving room and the bedchamber exactly to my tastes. I wandered between the rooms noting that this was the one aspect of the sanctuary I had not designed. I had made allowances for myself of course. I would have the receiving room for those wishing to see me without the grandeur of the throne room and a bedchamber. But Meg had furnished me with a library and a smaller room attached where I could discuss business with my sons in peace without fear of anyone overhearing.

"Meg…" I finally managed to speak. She had settled herself on one of the sofas in the bedchamber leaving me to wander of my own accord. "It's perfect."

She nodded, "I knew you'd like it."

I extended my hand to her and pulled her to her feet. "And now I have something to show you." I smiled at the puzzled expression on her face. The construction of Meg's suite had gone like a dream. She had ordered the building of a room for herself on my side of the complex but as I had suspected she had been so busy ensuring that everything would be perfect for myself she had not gone to the trouble of checking it. It had been the job of the Melchium artisans to develop her chamber; I had just slipped them a few plans of my own for her own suite.

"My room?" she asked curiously, clearly recognising where this was going. There was an adjoining door in the hall outside my room that led supposedly to her bedchamber but I knew as soon as she opened the door that she had not thought of her own comforts. The layout was similar to my own. She had her bedchamber but she also had a large room I had left bare for her own needs and a lounge which would serve her well should she have visitors.

Now it was her turn to walk around the rooms half dazed. I think she was more impressed that I should have such a thing built for her under her own nose when I had been kept in the dark on this development. She had known that this was where they would build her room of course, but as I had hoped she had been so busy preparing the rest of this place for my arrival that she had thought to attend it later, after I was settled.

For a while she did not know what to say or do. Then taking me completely by surprise she flung herself into my arms. "We did it didn't we?" she mumbled.

I let her hold me and returned her embrace, "Yes. It's finally complete."

She broke away from me, "then I guess the only thing to do is move in."

I smiled and nodded, knowing that the following morning the real work would begin. Merchants would flock to us knowing that we were accepting their trade. They came with their fabrics and wares fully aware that we wanted to decorate the complex and those thirty years of fighting had left us with little in the way of aesthetics. The humans came to us knowing that I was their king now and this was my court. My sons did not come for the first few years, as I had not expected them too. They would need their own time to complete their own works. I planned to hold a massive ceremony in the sanctuary when they were all done, only then would my hold on this world be complete. Even so I hardly noticed their absence. I had my own work to attend to. The sanctuary must be furnished and humans would need to be appointed to the jobs that had arisen. We needed guards on the cellars where we kept humans who had betrayed us, rebelled or similar, we needed cooks to man kitchens and ensure the staff were well fed. We needed servants to attend us and clean the place. There were hundreds of jobs that required my attention though Meg was by my side and took care of many tasks that I could not be bothered with.

It would take years before this place was finished. Building it was just a small part of the job. But at least Meg had ensured that throughout the ordeal of arranging these tedious details my own chambers were ready for me to live in almost from the outset providing me sanctuary within the sanctuary. There was but one thing I had missed during my first tour of this place. In my private bedchamber placed so perfectly so that it would not be noticed by anyone who accidentally found themselves in here was the only portrait of Meg in the entire building. Not just Meg, a painting she had done decades ago and had hidden from me, a painting of the two of us together side by side with the Nosgoth we had claimed laid out behind us.

TBC


	21. Valeska

Chapter 21 - Valeska

Fifteen years later…

(Megara)

I was standing next to the throne watching my brothers and Kain in the centre of the throne room. Even from where I stood I could hear the simultaneous chink as all their glasses came together in one crowning gesture. It had been a long fifteen years of slowly building footholds across Nosgoth. But now my brothers had finished establishing themselves as overlords in their own territories with Kain supreme above them. Of course the road that had led us here today had not been without its trials. A number of small rebellions had broken out here and there but they lacked conviction and organisation. If they had come together in one uprising rather than sporadically trying to overthrow us in pathetic attempts that got them no where then maybe we would have had an issue. As it happens their attempts at overthrowing our great regime got no further than small acts of sabotage, which in the long term did little but in the short term irritated us and frustrated our plans. Their work was futile. The inciters of these rebellions and their saboteurs were thrown into the cells where we could keep them alive for years before we needed to drain them of their blood. In this we found a punishment that also served our needs to perfection.

This toast was the signal that we had complete control over Nosgoth in Kain's name. The people in the throne room gave applause as Kain and my brothers sipped from their goblets to complete the toast. Kain returned to his throne, naturally, where he could watch the others and the rest of the court. As Kain's reign became more and more secure people flocked to the sanctuary of the clans both humans and vampires. Humans came thinking they could gain some good employment and vampires to pay their respects or at least catch a glimpse of their great leader.

The number of vampires had increased faster than either Kain or I expected. The brothers had made only one or two between them, but those one or two had made three or four. It seemed the further down the hierarchy one went the more vampires one found. Of course this left us with a crop of vampires that were largely just fledglings and they were becoming weaker as the bloodline diluted itself further. But they were young and our reign was fresh, they would have many, many years to develop before the humans could launch a rebellion (if it came to it) by which point they would have grown out of their weaknesses.

It was no secret that I was obviously closer to my brothers than Kain and yet even I was surprised at their development. Their time as overlords over their own little lands changed them in ways I could not have imagined.

Raziel remained close to Kain as he had always done. He prided himself on being Kain's right hand and frequented the sanctuary to be close to the master so he may do his bidding without fail. He ruled his lands ruthlessly but fair just as Kain would have in his position. Kain was proud of him of course though he would never say it. His position as Kain's firstborn son was emphasised now in a way it never had been before. When we had all been growing up his position simply made him that little bit more powerful, slightly more advanced than the others. Now it set him apart from his brothers and he commanded a new type of respect from them, willingly given of course. Well from all but Turel.

Poor Turel. He resented Raziel and his position as the firstborn. He seemed to think that it should have been him. He was just jealous of course, Kain could spend hours locked away with Raziel seemingly discussing strategies and their plans which enraged Turel something terrible. (Of course I knew half the time they were doing no such thing. Most of the time they were probably playing chess and such things). He resented Kain's relationship with Raziel and it was true that although Kain cared for all his children he cared most for his firstborn son. Turel had the most vampires under his service; he attempted to overshadow Raziel in as many ways as he could. His palace was bigger and more lavishly decorated. His soldiers were more powerful, his servants better treated and of course he had more vampires in his brood. Turel had thought that would bring him glory in Kain's eyes, that Kain would be impressed with his progress and perhaps, just perhaps, he would praise Turel as the best of them. On the contrary Kain gave him a warning not to make too many men too quickly or to rush things with his clan which on the whole just made Turel ever more angry and resentful.

Dumah on the other hand was by far the most laid back when it came to the development of his lands. He got the job done and he did it well enough, his lands flourished and his people respected him, he was by far the most popular of the brothers with his servants. We knew not his secret until it came out that he was known for his excursions to the servant quarters in his palace with a bottle of something they called 'whiskey'. He proved to the world that vampires could get drunk along with the humans; it just took them a bit longer. I thought Kain would have words with him about his lifestyle but it seemed that he was happy enough considering Dumah could also keep his men under tight control.

Rahab was the only one in which there was no change. He had always been the calm one, the composed one and certainly the only one among them who could stop me killing someone when my temper rose. His serenity flowed into his palace and his lands. Like Dumah he knew how to get his work done and he managed it well but there was never any rush with Rahab. He took his time and I think his men and servants appreciated that. Often I had visited Rahab just to get away from the bustle of life at court and every time I had been astounded at the sense of peace that came with staying with him. His affinity for water had been included in his plans for his palace and he had small glass bowls of water hung throughout the halls underneath the lamps. On one hand it was terrifying to have a potential source of death so close without protection on the other it was immensely calming to see the reflections on the walls as the flames shone through the pools. As much as I hated to compare my brothers Rahab was by far my favourite. I got on with each of my brothers well (except Turel who started to resent my position with Kain as well) but Rahab was something extraordinary. Perhaps it was because he was the first to be educated completely by me without Kain's influence. He and I had a special relationship; he knew my moods and how to affect them. When I was happy he let me be but when I was sad he knew exactly how to comfort me and when I was angry he was the only one who could calm me. I missed him far more than I admitted to anyone.

Somewhat ironically, Rahab the first of them to be educated by me was my favourite brother where Zephon the second to fall under my teachings was my least favourite. The rebellions that had broken out over the years had started or localised near Zephon's lands. They had made him suspicious of everyone and the sabotage caused him to become something paranoid. He started a network of spies; he had many human servants in his brothers' lands reporting back to him on their progress. He was convinced that his brothers were attempting to undermine him and so kept his eyes on them at all times. It was a scary thing to think that nothing happened without Zephon knowing about it. Sometimes he heard things before Kain and I had and that unnerved me. I never knew how to deal with Zephon, I think we all had our secrets, I certainly did and yet I could not help thinking that he could know things that I did not want anyone to know. He never let on of course and I think that was worse. I did not appreciate the thought of not liking my brother but I couldn't help it. I wished we could all get along as we had in the earlier days but I suppose the change was inevitable.

Finally there was Melchiah, poor little Melchiah. He had come along way since his failed raising and yet he was still the weakest of the brood. Something that became more apparent as he started to create others. They would seldom live passed their first few years claimed by the sun, rain or other elements and some did not even survive through the vampiric process. Those who did survive were clearly the weakest of all the broods. We seldom saw them for they had to keep themselves inside in the darkest parts of the castle for months before they were strong enough to even brave the outside world. Poor Melchiah he was a good man who deserved better than the half existence Kain had damned and his clan to when he raised Melchiah knowing he was unable. I was still somewhat annoyed at this, I felt that if Kain had not been so foolhardy then Melchiah would not have to go through the pain every time one of his friends died through something that would not cause another fledgling to even flinch.

But there they were; my brothers and Kain, truly a sight to behold. This was the first time they had all been together in the same room since that battle at Avernus. Indeed some of them had been so preoccupied with the clans they had not seen any of their brothers for the past years. While I was watching them mingle with each other, embracing as old friends do and drinking rather heavily I had not noticed Kain's hand close over my own. It was a while before I noticed he was looking up at me waiting for me to snap out of my musings.

"Well?" he asked turning from me to look over the others.

"They've done a wonderful job. They're pleased to be here with each other and it'll be a shame to know that the only times they will ever be together like this at council."

He nodded, "a shame they will never be friends again." Before I knew it my face was frowning and I had asked Kain to explain himself before it became obvious to me that he was right. "Oh some of them will remain the best of friends as they have always been, but from now they are neighbouring warlords. Soon they will get caught up in border struggles and petty squabbles and at some point down the line they shall forget they were brothers who loved each other. After all they are immortal and their empires shall last forever. Who knows what could happen."

If only we had known then what would happen. That their friendships would largely survive as would their empires until it was Kain himself who broke their circle, betraying them in the worst possible way.

By now the musicians had started and the courtiers were dancing. Amusingly enough Raziel and Dumah were also determined to dance with each other and seemed to be having some difficulty in deciding who should lead. I nudged Kain and pointed him in their direction. From the dais we laughed and I could see that those not dancing were also watching this humorous drama.

That was when I first saw her.

A vampire female standing to the side leaning against a column looking directly at Kain. "You have an admirer," I whispered to him, studying the woman curiously.

"Yes," he replied but did not look, "she's been staring at me since she got here."

I studied her intensely. She was a fledgling and so would not have any defining characteristics of her brood for a number of years. Through deduction I surmised she was Turelim. I had not seen her before which meant she was either Turelim, Zephonim or Melchium as I knew the other clans thoroughly. Zephon had yet to extend his gift to any women and if she was Melchium she would be flattening herself in the shadows trying to stop her skin falling off. Her dark hair was long and her dress was exquisite. She looked beautiful but was not the most beautiful woman in the room. Her figure was pleasant and her features soft and lovely but for the moment she seemed harsh and demanding the way she was staring at Kain like this.

"Oh for goodness sake go and see what she wants!" I snapped at Kain as he seemed able to look everywhere in the room save at her.

He looked up at me surprised, "why?"

"She obviously wants something from you, look she's not even blinking. Besides it would be good for you to mingle with the 'common folk'" I nudged him again, playfully this time.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, "You're right of course, I should make an effort."

In the end it was done masterfully. He left the throne and headed for the opposite side of the hall from where she was standing and spoke with his people. He took his time and it looked as though he wanted nothing more than to meet his subjects. It took him hours before he finally made his way to her, and she had not taken her eyes from him despite his movement. Taking her hand and kissing it as he had with every other woman he had met that evening he engaged her in conversation. A conversation that lasted longer than any he had involved himself in thus far including those with his sons. I lost interest somewhere along the line and was now dancing with my brother Rahab. Raziel and Dumah had rejoined the dance floor and we were having enough fun trying to outdo each other with elaborate dances. At some point this degenerated further into stupidity and Raziel and Dumah just tried to ram us off the floor. Raziel's shoulder barge caught me off guard and I stumbled into the couple behind me. "Sorry," I laughed it off as did they, then I noticed who it was; Kain was dancing with the staring woman. For a moment this threw me completely as Kain had sworn that he would not dance with anyone despite my suggestions and Dumah's invitations. But before I could muse on it further Rahab had swept me back into his arms and we continued in our antics much to the amusement of the surrounding crowd.

I woke late in the morning surrounded by empty bottles and the unconscious bodies of my five of my brothers. Zephon had not joined us in my suite the night before but the others and I had stayed up into the small hours of the morning reminiscing and talking. Dumah, Raziel and even Turel had partaken of enough ale to kill a human I feared. Even though ale and wine like solid food gave us no nutritional value and we could survive completely on blood it was still nice to indulge ourselves occasionally, or in Dumah's case more than occasionally. He did not drink excessively only far more than my brothers would have done.

I stumbled to the window and flung it open to get some fresh air into the room. I breathed deeply and then saw to crossing the room without knocking too many bottles over. I had fallen asleep first I think resting comfortably on Raziel's shoulder and so did not know for how long they had slept for.

There was a servant outside my room with a goblet of blood ready for my morning feed. "There is business commanding your attention in the throne room ma'am," he informed me taking the drained goblet from me. Subconsciously my eyes glanced towards Kain's door which was firmly shut. Seeing the movement he continued, "Master Kain has not left his chamber yet."

This was somewhat unusual in itself since Kain needed less rest than us lesser vampires and was always up long before any other vampire. But then I did not know what time he had retired though I could not remember seeing him since our brush on the dance floor.

I shrugged and closed the door, I would attend the business today. "Take a barrel of blood in there with five glasses, my brothers shall be hungry when they wake I don't doubt."

"Very good ma'am," my servant replied smoothly with a bow. I smiled; I did like this man. Four times a day he would have a goblet of blood waiting for me. He must have stood there for ages just holding it for me but never letting it go stale. The others had their feeds left in their room but I preferred mine on the go and so he would hand it to me as I left for my daily work.

The throne room was always scattered with people who wished to see Kain about some matter or other. Today was more so after the events of last night. Extra servants had been called to pull down the torn banners of the night before and replace them. The festivities would continue for a few more days until everyone was satisfied enough and slowly filtered back to their homes. Business was tedious that morning. The brothers were here and so we did not have to deal with their requests for help or advice. Instead I was inundated with servants' problems. Part of me wondered if Kain had stayed in his room on purpose. He hated the servants coming to him to ask things that he really could not care less about. Today they were asking what food should be served for the humans? Should there be a special menu in lieu of the festivities? One of the prisoners in the cells had died overnight, was it safe to drain him or should he be buried? And all manner of menial jobs that regretfully had to be dealt with. I prayed for the day where one of our human servants excelled themselves at their duties so they could be promoted to head of house and they could dispense these orders.

I did not see Kain at all for that morning or afternoon. However I was joined by a familiar face. That woman he had taken a fancy to the night before, the one who kept staring at him incessantly to catch his attention.

"Good afternoon," she said smiling at me. She walked up to the dais to where I was sitting in the throne. I held up my hand for her to stay back while I finished dealing with one of the higher servants from the cells. After he had left I allowed her to come forward and I could tell that she was unimpressed. "We are both vampires surely I can come into your presence when you speak to a lowly human?" she asked her voice making it sound so reasonable. Many of these fledglings saw themselves as the higher form of life, of course we were but the trick to winning the humans' support rested in not rubbing their faces in it and certainly not talking about it.

I tried to sound just as reasonable in my reply, "Not when that human is discussing matters for myself or Lord Kain." I was quite pleased with myself. I did not like this woman though for reasons I could not quite imagine. I thought she must have that certain air about her that I disliked though I had no desire to get to know her to put my mind at ease.

"My name is Valeska," she introduced herself and I noticed that she did not curtsy. Although it was to Kain they genuflected to, it was an unspoken rule that I commanded the same respect especially when Kain himself was not present.

I nodded my acknowledgement and looked to the floor to summon the next business to me, unfortunately for me that last man had been the final person who needed my attention that afternoon. Typical.

"You are Meg no?" she prompted.

My eyes flashed ever so briefly at her, who was this impertinent woman? Only Kain and my brothers called me 'Meg' everyone else at least honoured me with the title of 'my lady' if not 'Lady Megara'. "What of it?" I asked, trying so hard not to show my disdain for her. It would be unseemly to take a dislike of one of the few fledglings so early on in the reign.

She had a nice smile I would grant her, she flashed it at me now and lowered her head as if to be having this conversation was doing her great honour. "I am pleased to meet you."

Suddenly losing all patience with her I put down the papers I was holding and invited her to stand before me, "Is there anything I can help you with? Some business you might have? I regret Lord Kain is unavailable this morning…"

She smiled again, this time somewhat knowingly, "Oh I know, he is resting. I think he lost track of time."

I did not know (though I could guess) or care how she knew this. However I was greatly impressed to know that Kain had lost himself in the celebrations. I could not help beaming at her, "Good," I said, "I'm glad he enjoyed himself."

She looked somewhat thrown and took her leave of me. I watched her go trying to figure her out.

"I don't understand her either," Raziel appeared at my side from behind the pillar. "It's like she's making a point of flaunting herself at you." I immediately surrendered the throne to Raziel out of courtesy to the firstborn son, but he insisted I remain. "Very strange," he muttered watching the door she had left through, "I shall see what I can find out about her."

I returned to the throne and raised my eyebrows at him, "you suspect her of something?"

He shrugged, "maybe." He laughed when he noticed that I seemed confused and maybe a little more naïve than he gave me credit for. "Oh Meg, you must know how things are right now. We are all friends now but already things are getting a little…forced? When we were trying to establish ourselves many of the human servants worked between our territories trying to find somewhere to settle. Remember when some of the border territories were still being disputed well sometimes spies would creep into our camps, trying to find out what we were going to do. We soon realised the best way to do this…planting women in the court."

My heart sank in my chest, more to realising that my brothers could resort to this. "Did you?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"I didn't have to, Dumah did not keep his plans to himself in those days, it was easy to buy one of his servants." He knew that I was disappointed but I would no doubt get over this revelation. Kain was right; their relationship was more fragile than I had anticipated or ever expected.

"You think she was planted here?" I asked, returning to the matter at hand.

Again he shrugged, "Who knows, but there is something not quite right about her isn't there?"

Unfortunately my encounter with her in the throne room was not my last with Valeska. Kain had indeed taken a shine to her and he spent a lot of his time with her. I never knew nor asked how far their relationship went and nor did I care. He seemed to enjoy her company for reasons I could not comprehend. Raziel believed it was because of what she embodied. She was one of the first vampires of his new reign. To her Kain was almost a God and she was blessed by his attentions. That and she had a flair for chess which Kain enjoyed immensely but found me a poor player without the patience for it.

Despite her obvious position as one of Kain's favourites at court if she was a spy placed there relay information on Kain's plans and business to whomever she served she would find herself disappointed.

Kain enjoyed her company but he held no higher regard for her than that. He did not care for her in any other way and he certainly did not love her. He was not blinded by affection and his business remained his own. In the end it was amusing to see her try and gain privileges that would never be hers. She clearly thought that being allowed into Kain's chambers at all hours of the night gave her some kind of unwritten position at court.

How wrong she was.

I never once felt jealous of her, even when she tried to take my position at court. She did nothing outright of course to undermine me. Instead she did little things like bring messages to Kain's attention, she would stand at his left hand while he sat at the throne and she often commanded the title 'Lady Valeska'. Of course Kain would have none of it. She was not allowed any insight or knowledge of his business. If she brought a message to him he would curtly point out to her that it was my duty and not hers. All she had to do was stand at court, look pretty and entertain him, a role she had expected would bring her some smidgeon of power. When it didn't I thought she would return to whatever hole she had crawled out of but I was wrong. Even after the celebrations ended and the brothers returned to their respective courts she remained.

Even though Valeska remained in every way my inferior everyday she tried to usurp a little more of my power. It became an irritant more than anything else. She knew that neither I nor Kain would stand for her trying to take more than he allowed her but I think she just wanted to push and push and see how far she could get away with. Kain kept slapping her down but still he enjoyed her company and so would never rid himself of her while she could still entertain him. Sometimes he would leave the slapping down to me, knowing that I disliked her and thoroughly enjoyed humbling her before the court.

The three of us had settled into a sort of routine. Valeska would keep him diverted when he needed it but more often than not he would continue with the daily running of his empire with me at his side dispensing his orders with swift efficiency. She would hang around the throne room always waiting for him to summon her to his side, something he rarely did. Instead we would lose hours, heads together just debating the way we were developing our empire. Then in the evenings he would dine with me or her (never both) and retire to his chamber usually summoning her for some entertainment. As much as we despised each other credit where credit was due she was a dab hand at chess and was a consummate musician. As much as I hated to admit it some nights I could hear her voice filling the halls and it soothed even my soul.

Kain and I were in the throne room the day our routine was destroyed. Against all expectation a messenger threw himself into the throne room and knocked half the petitioners over. He ran to the dais and threw his message at us. Kain raised an eyebrow clearly uninpressed with the whole affair and handed the note to me to read, emphasising how little he thought it worth his attention.

I broke my brother Dumah's seal and could not hide my surprise at his hasty scrawl. It took me a few moments to work out the barely legible handwriting but once I realised the gist of it I could not stop crying out with shock.

"It's Dumah," I said my voice quavering, "The humans have rebelled against him, by God they've taken half his lands."

TBC


	22. Adolescence

Chapter 22 – Adolescence

(Megara)

It was always an exhilarating feeling to walk briskly through the halls of the Sanctuary and have doors swung open for us, slamming against the walls with the force. Kain was walking beside me giving me rapt instructions to take to Dumah, "contain the rebellion, suppress any news of this, I won't have this spread," we were both hurrying as fast as we could without giving the appearance of alarm by breaking into a run. Kain kept pace carrying my battle armour as I slipped it on as best I could while heading for the stables.

There was a Dumahim escort waiting for me. A few of the Dumahim vampires who remained at court for one reason or another were already mounted and waiting at the doors, clearly eager to get on their way. Kain helped me up onto my horse and finally handed me my sword. "You shall have reinforcements soon. I shall send Turel to you," he promised, "but the Gods know this must be done carefully. We _cannot_ let this get out." He held my gaze and I knew we were both thinking of little Melchiah who struggled daily with rebellious humans who in truth were probably a lot stronger than their vampiric masters but didn't quite realise it.

"I'll be home soon," I promised and kicked my horse forward. As I passed by the gate I heard the simultaneous cry of the Dumahim as they pushed their steeds forward to follow me. It was a fun game in the end. We turned what was a tense and unforgiving cross country ride into little more than a romp. We raced each other on the straights and laughed at each other as we stumbled over the hills, only when we neared the Dumahim lands did we line up in a formal procession alerting the guards to who we were so they would open the gates without needing the command.

His clan was in a type of organised disarray. No doubt Dumah had started arranging them into a makeshift army but the gall of the humans had shocked them and they hurried about themselves mostly confused. Dumah himself was sitting in his throne room with more vampires fluttering around him giving him one report after another, not giving him time to consider their words and form a careful response. They did not back from him when I entered the room and even when he rose to greet me they spoke over him.

"Sister," he breathed full of relief, "By the Gods I am glad to..."

"You bloody idiot!" I shouted over him, slapping him with a roll of his original letter, "You bloody, _bloody_ idiot!" Only now did his informants drew away from him and fell silent instantly at my annoyance. Dumah rubbed his face where I had left a small mark from my outburst, "Getting drunk with the humans?! No wonder they took half your lands, what secrets did you tell them?! How much did they find out about your fortifications?"

Dumah dropped back into his chair, there was an empty bottle next to the throne and I saw how he was dealing with this unexpected blow. "I told them nothing, at least I don't think I did." He paused. "Well I didn't think I was telling them anything of importance."

I looked back at one of his men, "A chair," I snapped, "NOW!" I shouted when it was clear he was going to tarry. A chair was brought for me and set next to the throne. "Now, tell me what has happened?"

We sat there for hours discussing the movements and potential movements of the humans, they had an obvious strategy. They were securing the spread of villages at the base of the mountains probably in an attempt to divide our fortifications. With all the villages in their control we could only guess from where they would launch their attack on the main city. But knowing their strategy, although helpful still left us with no way to counter it. Dumah's clan army was small in number and would be weaker when divided to defend against numerous targets.

"Is Kain coming?" Dumah asked me and I did not fail to hear the hope in his voice.

I shook my head, "No, he wants all knowledge of this suppressed. Anyone who comes to the gates is to be greeted by one of your trusted men and all messages to the outside are to be carried only by those you know will not gossip at the other end. Your human servants are to be restricted and Dumah please, don't drink with them again."

We were interrupted by the same man who had admitted me to the room, "My lord," he gave a short incline of his head, "My lady, the lord Rahab." Rahab came forward and behind him I could see that he had brought a small number of men with him.

"Come to laugh at me, brother?" Dumah asked with a smile on his face.

Rahab smirked at me, "would you believe I chose just this time to come for a visit?" He gestured to the men behind him, "accompanied by my finest bodyguards would you believe. I hear Turel is coming to join the party too."

"Well then," Dumah said easily, "a couple of well aimed raiding parties should do the trick." He sat back in his throne, evidently pleased with himself though he had done little in the way of effective leadership or strategy. He was more than capable of getting himself through this crisis but I knew my brother too well. He was sulking. He had tried to befriend the humans under his command and it had backfired. He had put himself in this position and in his arrogance he had lost almost half of his lands. That is why he had drunk so heavily before I arrived, he was annoyed at himself and if Rahab and I were not there to help him, he probably would have continued to drunk himself into a stupor until the humans took over his entire city just because he was sulking.

I rose and allowed Rahab to sit in my chair, "where are you going?" Dumah asked automatically.

"I'm going to find Turel. You know the strategy and if Turel has brought some men we can secure some of the villages without Turel coming here. It might help to keep all this quiet if Turel wasn't seen to come here first."

Dumah came after me, "you're not going to stay?" he asked, almost whining.

"I'll come back when we're done. I think I'd like to stay here a while before I go back to the sanctuary." He smiled and patted my shoulder and in that brief moment I understood completely why he felt the need to get drunk with his human companions. Dumah missed us, he missed the days when we all lived together and when we were on progress together and now even though he had his own clan he felt the distance between himself and those he ruled. I would have to visit more often.

I refused the contingent of Dumahim soldiers to escort me and instead headed off in the direction of Turel's approach. Our plan was simple enough, take back the villages one by one and leave an accomplished Dumahim soldier behind to keep the human dogs tethered. It would no doubt be more difficult than that and we would probably need to watch Dumah after it was done. He had made a grievous error here and I hoped we could contain it before the humans got wind of it and took some foolish notion of overthrowing us. But all I could do now was wait for Turel and hope for the best.

There was only one route Turel would take to Dumahim territory and he could not have passed me without me seeing him, yet I had been waiting far longer than I had thought I would. The sky had started to darken and it was growing late, yet there was no sign of Turel. I could not wait for him any longer and so I spurred my horse back to Dumah's palace. One of Dumah's men was riding out to meet me, "My lady," he called moving his horse to ride beside mine, "My lord Dumah asks that you join him at the southern village." I glanced back down the road, there still wasn't any sign at all of Turel. He wasn't coming. I nodded and followed his lead south of the palace to one of the last villages the human had taken on their push. Dumah and a small group of his men were holding back from the town as another group rode through the town.

"They ran away," Dumah told me when I came to a stop beside him. "As soon as they saw us coming they just retreated," he gestured to a Rahabim man beside us, "The same happened with Rahab," he hesitated, "Where's Turel?"

I shrugged, "he didn't show...why would they take the towns and then retreat as soon as we retaliate? They must have known we would come back for them. Why does none of this make any sense?" Dumah and I barely had time to consider the issue when we heard horses coming towards us – a small Razielim force headed by Raziel himself. Dumah and I both turned to greet him.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, hoping that he had not heard a rumour we were in trouble.

Raziel looked at me thoroughly puzzled, "you sent for me."

Dumah and I exchanged glances, "I did no such thing! We were waiting for Turel."

"But you sent a messenger to me, you asked me to come right away."

The three of us looked grimly at each other, "This is odd," Dumah remarked.

"It's a distraction," Rahab said quietly, glancing up as our men cleared the streets without resistance, "all of this is a distraction. It must be." I was already turning my horse in the direction of the sanctuary, "Dumah, finish the clearing, clear every village of the humans, find the leaders and have them executed. Display their bodies at the village gates. I'm going to the sanctuary."

Raziel kicked his horse into line with mine and together we rode harder and faster than we had ever ridden before to get back to the sanctuary. I did not know what to expect so I was so very relieved to see that on the outside at least everything appeared normal. The guards at the front gate let us through without comment and we dropped from our horses leaving the grooms to take them. I broke into a run and sprinted towards the throne room.

Inside the sanctuary things were not so normal. People were hurrying around the corridors and on the occasion I caught sight of blood stains on the walls and floor. The throne room was a mess. There were bodies of vampires and humans littered everywhere, and there in the centre, sitting on his throne as if nothing had happened was Kain, reading a petition as he would on any other day.

"Meg," he said pleasantly when he saw me, "you missed all the fun."

I hurried to his side, a hundred questions already on my lips, "Are you alright? What happened? What did you do?!"

"My lord," Raziel had joined me and was assuming a far more practical stance than myself, "How may I serve?"

Kain gestured to the room, "clean this up."

Raziel inclined his head and immediately started barking orders to the servants, calling for the removal of the bodies.

"What happened?!" I demanded again.

(Kain)

I knew she would take it hard, but I had not known how hard. I took her hand in mine and said simply, "there's been a coup." For a moment she looked as though I had spoken in some foreign tongue. But the bodies on the floor were Turelim and Turel himself had not appeared as ordered. I had known of the various assassination attempts carried out on the lower ranks of the different clans. I had always known that the bond between my sons would weaken and break as their time as clan lords continued. They had started trying to edge their way into the other's borders since they were established. Just two weeks ago one of Dumah's men had killed off one of Raziel's leading humans. Dumah and Raziel were firm friends as well as brothers so it had not surprised me to learn that the less forgiving of my brood were not unfamiliar to resorting to assassination when it suited them. I had always assumed that Raziel would be the target of the bolder assassins but I had never thought they would come for me. I was quite amused by the whole situation indeed I was impressed that some of the Turelim (who Turel would no doubt claim were acting of their own accord) would have the gall to attempt to overthrow me.

Meg on the other hand still saw them as the boys she used to play with back in the house a lifetime ago. She saw them, above all else as brothers and she had refused so far to believe that they had sanctioned the killing of the other's men. She would not take the notion of a coup lightly.

"A coup?" she asked lacking any emotion.

"Some Turelim took it into their heads that Turel should be the Emperor of Nosgoth."

She dropped my hand, "they tried to kill you?"

I laughed, "I would hardly call it a try. To say they underestimated me would be an extreme understatement." Meg did not laugh, it had finally dawned on her that her brothers were now enemies. She said nothing. Instead she walked off and shut herself in her rooms. I did not see her for weeks and when I did see her, she was not the same Meg that left me that day, I did not see that Meg again.

TBC


	23. Growing Up

Chapter 23 – Growing Up

(Kain)

"And Turel, my lord?" Raziel asked, quietly. He had drawn a stool to the side of my throne and had taken charge of punishing those who had escaped death during the coup. He had, naturally had the humans executed and their heads displayed within the human quarters and the vampires thrown into the conveniently located abyss that bordered our lands. Now he was finding those who had maintained a covert role during the coup and was sentencing them appropriately. He was finding me distracted and if it annoyed him he made no mention of it. "Turel, my lord?"

I turned to him with a thoughtful smirk, "Nothing," I said, "for the moment, nothing."

Raziel had been making a list, now lowered it and leaned towards me, "My lord, with respect, Turel tried to kill you. We have executed all involved, it seems pointless if we allow him to live and give him the opportunity to strike again."

"Raziel, if you had displeased me, would you not expect swift punishment?" Raziel laughed, his intuition which was usually very much in tune with mine falling into line, "Turel has seen everyone involved in this die and will expect me to be very, very unhappy. The longer I maintain silence the longer he worries about what torments I am thinking up for him."

There was movement from the other side of the deserted throne room, Valeska had stepped in and was now eyeing the dais, trying to judge my mood. "And her?" Raziel asked grimly, without looking up, "We know that it was she who enlisted the help of the messenger who was sent to me, she informed the men when Meg and the others had left the sanctuary and when you were quite alone here."

"You know, she has had plenty of time to kill me without all this planning and nonsense," I realised, "the amount of times we were alone together."

"My lord, I don't think being alone with you would allow the opportunity to try and kill you."

We both watched Valeska bow out of the room, clearly deciding it was not worth coming into our presence, there were many who were running in the opposite direction when they saw Raziel coming at the moment.

"I will deal with Valeska," I said, "Perhaps I should send her to ornament Melchiah's court."

"God knows his court would appreciate something to look at."

Raziel and I sat back and enjoyed the silence. The throne room was usually the hub of activity but since the coup the whole sanctuary was subdued. It was rather pleasant. We had come to the end of the list, "and Meg?" Raziel asked, broaching the subject I knew had been on his mind as it preyed on mine. I did not have to answer, my silence said everything he needed to know. I had not seen Meg for some days, she had shut herself away and I was letting her have some time to herself to come to terms with the new bonds between her brothers. "You know she's not here." I looked at Raziel, he and Meg shared a sense of each other which had served us well during the campaign to take Nosgoth, they instinctively knew what the other was feeling and when they were near each other. The others had no such sense so I could only assume it was a remnant of their human bonds.

"Where did she go?"

He shrugged, "probably to where she always goes when she's upset or stressed."

"Rahab then."

(Meg)

Rahab was not there when I arrived. Not that it mattered a great deal. Instead I was conducted to a special suite of rooms reserved for guests by one of his higher servants. The clan was sent into disarray by my sudden arrival no doubt exacerbated by the fact that their leader had left some time ago without warning. I knew Rahab would not be long, I just wanted to be on my own for a while and could not bear to remain at the sanctuary with Kain and Raziel flocking to comfort me or explain away what was happening to my brothers.

No one could explain or rationalise how my brothers had resorted to trying to kill each other.

There was a soft knock at the door - everything the Rahabim did was done softly. Rahab's first born, a delightful, charming woman named Circe entered and gave me an impressively low bow.

"My lady, it is an honour to welcome you. May I offer you some refreshment?" I did like Circe, she was always so pleasant.

"No thank you, Circe," I replied, though I knew I would need something soon.

"Very well, as you probably know my lord is not here at the moment, but we expect him shortly. If there is anything you need or desire then I shall attend you. Perhaps a change of clothes?" she offered, surveying my shabby appearance. I was still wearing the same clothes that I had ridden to and from Dumahim earlier that morning and I looked and smelled like I had made a dozen long journeys in such a short space of time. I felt it too.

"Yes, thank you Circe, I do seem to have come away in quite a hurry." I managed a laugh.

"At once my lady, until then we are all at your disposal, as ever."

I was left to my rooms and I could already feel the stress seep out of me. Rahab had an odd fascination with water and had hung small glass bowls of them beneath the lanterns within his home, sending beautiful reflecting shadows all over the walls. The sound of music drifted lovingly into the room from beyond the open balcony and I knew that Circe had summoned the musicians to soothe me. She had no doubt picked up on the well known fact that Rahab was my most beloved brother and I only appeared out of the blue when I needed his counsel. She was indeed seeing to my every comfort. I reclined on the couch in my receiving room and allowed the atmosphere and the music to wash over me and allowed, finally, the exhaustion of three rides and the events of the day to catch up with me and send me to sleep.

I slept until the following morning, waking in the same position as I had drifted off, draped across the sofa, albeit with a new blanket pulled over me. A change of clothes that I appeared to have left on my last visit were placed neatly across the room and I just knew that there was a man just outside of the door with a goblet just waiting, as he would all day if need be, to know my pleasure. This was luxury indeed.

I dressed, relieved the man outside my door and decided to take a leisurely stroll around my brother's court. While I commanded the utmost respect at the sanctuary it was always nice to be reminded of the great position into which I was born as the servants around me all recognised me and started falling over themselves to bow to me and call out greetings.

I inevitably ended in Rahab's throne room, much smaller of course that the one at the sanctuary but it still allowed Rahab a seat of power and room for his petitioners and attention seekers to mill around him. It was the only room in which I was uncomfortable for at the centre was a small fountain. Water was still deadly to us and I marvelled that Rahab would have something that could kill us so easily just opposite the place from which he ruled.

"Sister," Rahab called warmly from the dais, beckoning me over. "How lovely to see you so soon." He offered me his throne but I settled comfortably in the chair beside him usually meant for Circe. "I arrived from Dumahim late last night. Everything there seems to be coming to heel, Raziel sent us a message from the sanctuary. It was indeed a distraction, designed to call away you and Raziel and keep us occupied while the Turelim took the sanctuary. Dumah was killing off half the population of the villages when I left."

I hardly heard him but managed to laugh at Dumah's antics nonetheless. He leaned in and took my hand, "Raziel told me to expect you."

"I think you knew to expect me before Raziel mentioned a thing," I said with a hint of a laugh. Rahab conceded the fact and put his arm around me. "You're going to kill each other if you carry on." I said quietly.

"Did you not think it would be like this?" he asked.

I thought for a moment. Had I known that my brothers would resort to this kind of savagery to assert their dominance? Yes. Did I think it would be like this? No.

"It's still hard," I told him.

His hand covered my own, "I know. Most of us will stay friends, Raziel and Dumah have even turned it into a game. Every time one of their own strays into their borders they send it back with a note. Most of the time it's just a bit of fun to take the edge off border disputes. If it's any consolation we'll never attack you," he said. He was trying to be funny, I could tell. "We're not the men we once were Meg. We'll never go back to those days, we will never all sit around a sofa laughing at the antics of the humans, we won't get hilariously get drunk and we won't take each other into our confidences. We're still friends, but there's no denying that we will probably get worse with time. I mean Zephon is already sets his spy rings against anyone who so much as glances at his territory. I'm glad I don't border that one."

I didn't know what to say. I never thought that I would one day flee the sanctuary in some futile attempt to escape the sickening truth; my brothers weren't brothers anymore. They were rival lords and the bond that had once held us during the age of humans was quite rapidly fading. Soon it would be gone altogether and it seemed I was the only person who hadn't caught on to this fact.

Rahab's arm came across my shoulder, "You're a sentimental little fool aren't you?"

I grinned, he was right. I was clinging to the past, just as Dumah had when he decided to spend his evenings getting drunk with his humans. "You still have all of us, and hey we all got pretty drunk at the party right? We're capable of being in a room together and ultimately you still have Kain."

"Yeah," I shrugged his arm off me. He was right of course, I should leave this behind me and just accept their positions in life. Kain had always known and so had I, I never thought it would be like this. That they would actually try to kill each other, and it staggered me that they had actually attempted to kill Kain. A mistake I was sure they would never ever make again. "It won't happen again though will it?"

"Not against Kain I'd wager and certainly not against you, the rest of us will always be targets."

"Not me?" I asked.

He looked at me blankly, "We could never hurt you...besides..." he hesitated, "we would have nothing to gain, Kain's hardly likely to promote any of us to fill your position."

"I don't have a position," I snapped, my anger forcing me to my feet. I should have been relieved that my brothers were not about to murder me, but I was so angry that they had dared to entertain the idea before rejecting it.

Rahab pulled me back down, "that was the point you idiot, no one can replace you at court so there's no point in killing you. Now, you know we're not going to kill you and you know we're always going to try and kill each other the question is what are you going to do about it?"

He held my eyes for the longest time before I grudgingly answered, "get on with it I suppose."

Rahab's hand clapped my back, "just like I knew you would."

We stayed there for some time in silence while I mulled over our exchange. I had absolutely no desire to allow my brothers to plot against Kain thinking I would allow attempts on him to pass me by. Rahab had made it clear that my brothers saw me as a figure to work around. I was going to ensure they'd have to go through me.

(Kain)

Turel had spent enough time in his lands, watching those around him fall waiting for Raziel's sword to turn on him. He returned to court and took to milling around the throne room with all the petitioners, not once approaching the dais, just lingering there watching me. I think I spent many a week just watching him with a bemused smile. The threat of my anger was more potent than my anger itself. I would have to do this more often.

My petitioners very suddenly fell silent. Their eyes turned to the side door only I used to enter the throne room. I kept my face firmly set as I saw Meg walk purposefully in my direction. I determined not to allow anyone see how happy I was to have her back, it might lead my enemies to do something they would certainly regret. She drew closer and I faltered. She was armed, Meg had never armed herself walking around the sanctuary. She had protested when Raziel had stationed guards here, she believed it showed a lack of trust in her brothers and their men. Now her sword rested on her hip and her eyes were locked on Turel. Meg stood beside me, on the left side of the throne but she did not sit. She stood there and watched Turel one hand resting on the hilt of her sword. The message was clear and Turel from across the room could not failed to have grasped her meaning.

"Meg," I said by way of welcome. She inclined her head in acknowledgement but remained silent. "There's no reason for you to do this," I reasoned, "it won't happen again."

"They've made their beds," she said, grimly, "and I'm going to make them lie in them. If they think to disrupt order here then so be it."

I felt an odd tug in my stomach. I wanted Meg above all things to be happy but for the moment she would have to adapt to the way we lived now. She had taken her brother's actions to heart and was responding accordingly. Of course I thought she was over reacting but it was her way of proving a point. I did not think any of her brothers would attempt such a thing again, Raziel was loyal to me to the end and would never attempt to gain greater power. The others however may be lulled into thinking that they would better rule Nosgoth. Especially Turel who as the second born came so close to the seat of power but remained barred. He envied Raziel most of all and I feared my firstborn was in much greater danger from Turel's sharp ambition than I was.

"You can sit down, Meg, I'm in no danger here," I assured her.

"I'll stand," she stood resolutely. I said no more. I went on with the petitioners hoping that Meg would soon get tired of standing and this idiocy could end. As the day waned she was getting impatient which I admit was something Meg rarely did. During the campaigns I had seen her stand on guard duty for days without flinching. As the queue of petitioners grew thinner she started shifting her weight from side to side.

"Are you alright?" I asked eventually, concerned with how difficult standing on the spot seemed to be for her. When she didn't reply I looked up, she looked terrible. If I didn't know her better I would have thought she hadn't fed for days; her face was blanched from white. I stood up and turned her to face me but she didn't seem able to speak. I waved the petitioners away and lifted her into my arms, she was starting to shiver. For a moment an icy fear spread through my veins until I realised what was happening. She was not sick, this was a natural aspect to being a child of mine. She was entering the state of change. I'd wondered when this would occur, if indeed it would. I suppose it was only natural that she, the oldest would fall to it first. Her hand grasped at my shirt, she was trying to speak but she was shivering too much, beads of sweat were starting to form on her forehead as she struggled against the encroaching darkness.

"Go to sleep Meg," I told her, carrying her into her chambers. "You'll be alright, it's just the change. Go to sleep." It was futile to fight it, in my experience fighting it made it all rather unpleasant." She didn't listen of course and she struggled against it with every ounce of her being. She lay on the bed and I sat beside her, her hand still grasping at my own until she finally went still. Her breathing slowed but her grip on my hand did not, when I was satisfied she was completely gone I pried my hand from hers and left her.

I was surprised at my own disappointment. Meg had barely been back an hour and I still hadn't had a conversation with her, now she was asleep and she probably wouldn't wake for months. I sat beside her for a long while taking in her sleeping form.

My poor girl.

I had thought that after the celebration things would be good for all of us. Since then things were getting worse for Meg. Maybe when she woke it would be a new start for her, for us both. I pulled her blankets over her. I would need to make preparations for when she woke. When I slept it could be for months at a time, I wondered how long it would be for her. Still, it would give me the opportunity to look into something that had been on my mind since I conquered Nosgoth.

I returned to the throne room and beckoned a guard Dumah had sent me. He had been as loyal to me as any of my sons and I knew I could trust him to be discretion itself. I muttered some instructions to him and without question he left the sanctuary. I wondered for a moment how long he would be gone for, but at least with Meg asleep for the time being I wouldn't have to answer any awkward questions.

The doors swung open for Raziel as he joined me in the sanctuary. Behind him two vampires dragged along a cloth towards the dais. His face was grim. Strewn across the cloth was what was left of Valeska. She had been torn and ripped apart and no doubt left for someone to find.

It was one of the few occasions where I hesitated. Not that such a thing had happened, but that someone had pre-empted me in such a way, after all I had my own plans for dealing with her. "Who did this?" I asked Raziel.

He looked at me, "Meg," he said, "the guards say it was Meg." He couldn't quite believe it, neither could I. The last thing Meg had done before she marched to my side was to brutally murder the woman who betrayed me and attempted to have me killed in front of witnesses. I guess she came back to send a bigger message than I thought. It seemed apt that the day Meg reached this point she would fall into the state of change.

My girl was all grown up.

TBC


	24. The Change

Chapter 24 – The Change

(Megara)

I love the state of change. Or rather I love waking up from it. It's the best night's sleep you can possibly imagine. When I wake up from it it's always with a smile on my face. And so it was when I woke up that time, though the smile faded pretty quickly when I realised there was someone sitting at my bedside. The state of change is a private affair, only Kain had ever seen me sleeping and vice versa but here was a fledgling sitting beside me, reading a book.

"Who..." I began but was cut off when he quickly rose, realising I was awake, he pushed a barrel to the side of my bed and without ceremony shoved the tube from it straight into my mouth, "Lord Kain's orders, my Lady," he said, apologetically, "My Lady," he bowed himself from my presence as I drained the barrel. I never fed as soon as I woke, I was usually too curious to find out what had changed to feed, usually to my detriment. On the few occasions I had gone into this state I spent too long admiring my new ability and when the hunger had hit me, (and boy how does it hit you) I had to wait until Kain brought me some blood, too crippled by the hunger pangs to move. On this occasion he had preempted me.

After drinking the barrel dry I fell back on the pillows, more comfortable than I had ever been. I examined my hands, my skin was tinged yellow and felt tougher than it had done. It had taken on a leathery quality. My nails were longer, curved, almost clawlike and I drummed them against the side table, smiling at the satisfying sound. I picked up the hand mirror and figured that the new yellow tinge made my hair seem darker if that was possible and my ears curved, they were almost pointed now. I put the mirror down and focused my thoughts. It wasn't often I woke with just physical changes and I could hear something in the background of my mind. Something like muttering but it was so quiet I could hardly begin to make it out. Getting impatient with the bed, I was always bursting with energy when I woke after such a long sleep. I threw open my wardrobe and threw on some riding clothes, noting how much softer they felt against my tougher skin. I pulled open the windows and looked out over the land. It was fine and windy, perfect riding weather. I could see that someone else had the same idea, in the distance I could see three riders heading towards Turelim territory at some speed.

There was a maid waiting outside my room, "Tell Lord Kain I've gone riding," I said briskly and practically jogged to the stables.

The air had never felt so cool as I galloped across the plains and from the way she was acting, my horse hadn't had a proper run since I fell asleep. I'd obviously awoken during an event of some kind, I passed many riders from all over the clans heading back the way I had come. I ignored them for the most part, I was too happy just riding around the countryside.

Who knows how long I rode for, I didn't stop until I realised I had unintentionally drifted onto the North Roads, the route that led to Turel and Dumah. I had left the sanctuary and circled back onto myself, taking me to the Northenmost point of the Lake of the Dead.

I kicked myself for being so stupid, I hated coming here. I never understood why Kain wanted to build his sanctuary so close to it. When we had started our campaigns it was just a lake, granted a lake with a number of waterfalls pouring into it causing a whirlpool in the centre. As time passed the whirlpool got bigger and bigger and started to expand. The muttering that I'd been ignoring in the back of my mind had stopped. Instead I could hear screaming. Lots of screaming.

I dismounted and looked down into the water, Kain used this place to execute traitors. It didn't happen often, after all what would a vampire do turning on us? When it happened Kain would gather us to watch them being cast down. Looking down into it I fancied I could hear every one of them. Kain said that they would suffer for eternity, but I'd watched plenty of executions here and never heard the screaming before. I could almost see them in the swirling depths below me. I wanted to get away from it but some kind of horrific fascination held me there. I put my hands over my ears but still the screams continued.

"Meg!" A firm hand pulled me away from the edge. A party of Turelim led by Turel had pulled up but I did not hear them over the screams. I could still hear them. "Meg, what are you doing?" Turel asked, walking me towards my horse, "You look terrible," he added. I felt terrible, I needed to get away.

"I'm alright," I lied. The screaming wouldn't stop.

"You're not alright," he insisted. Turel wasn't usually so concerned, but no doubt he knew that it would not look good on him if he rode on right past me and left me in distress. He signalled for one of his men to take my horse and pulled me onto his own.

I tried to push him away, "I'm not bloody sick, Turel," I snapped, "I'm perfectly capable of riding home."

"You look like you have seen a ghost Meg, you looked as though you were about to fall into that blasted lake. I'm still in Kain's bad books and I don't think I would improve that standing letting you ride back in your condition."

He spurred his horse on and I let out an audible sigh of relief when we had put enough distance between us and the abyss, the screams faded and were soon gone. The low muttering returned but it was quiet enough to not bother me.

"When did you wake up anyway?" he asked conversationally.

"This morning. How long was I out?" I asked, realising that I did not recognise some of his entourage.

"Seven months I believe," he said with a bemused smile.

I looked at him skeptically. The change was long but usually a month sufficed, the longest I had ever seen anyone sleep for was eight weeks...maybe nine. "Half a year?"

"Don't look so surprised, sister, it seems to be the trend. Melchiah fell into the change just a day after you did and he woke just last week."

"What did he gain?" I asked, curiously. Melchiah had only entered the state of change once before, far less than any of his brothers and I but upon waking seemed to have gained nothing.

I felt Turel shrug, "not much by the sounds of it. What about you? Apart from the obvious?" The new taint to my skin had not gone unnoticed.

"I...I'm not sure," I said, "I haven't figured that out yet."

He nodded, satisfied and we passed the journey in silence.

It did not take us nearly as long to return to the sanctuary. Raziel was waiting for us in the stables. No doubt he had seen our approach and he of all people, the only one other than I older than Turel, would appreciate how unlike him it was to show concern for one of his elders, consumed with jealousy as he was.

"Meg's ill," Turel said, by way of greeting.

"I'm not ill," I snapped, "I'm fine." I fended off Raziel's attempts to help me down and dropped out of the saddle. I misjudged the distance and stumbled straight back into Raziel, only serving to convince them both that I was clearly terribly unwell.

Turel proceeded into the stables with his party, leaving me to Raziel's ministrations.

"You shouldn't have gone off like that," he said, putting his arm around me.

I rolled my eyes, "Raz, I go riding everytime I wake up."

"Then what's the matter? You look awful."

"Oh not you too," I groaned, "I've already had this from Turel, what's with him anyway? He was positively gentlemanly."

"If Turel and I are in agreement you must be dying," he said, grimly, "He's still getting the distinctively icy shoulder from Our Lord and until that changes Turel has been courtesy itself. We arrived at the corridor to my rooms, "in with you now. I'll tell Kain that you are in your chambers, he's been asking for you."

I pushed past him, "For God's sake, I'll see him in the throne room. I'm fine, I just had a funny turn out riding, Turel happened to be passing and assumed the worst."

"Meg, sister, we don't get ill, we don't have funny turns, that's a human thing. What happened?" He kept his arm firmly about my waist as we walked through the sanctuary, as if he expected me to faint at any moment.

"It's this new change," I admitted, "It's left me...unsettled. I can hear something in the back of my mind and I don't know what it is. While I was out riding I passed the abyss and it got a bit unbearable. That's all."

"What was it you heard?" he asked, turning me to look at him, his concern evident on his face.

"Screaming," I said, reluctantly, "I heard screaming."

We carried on walking, he didn't have an answer for me, "Maybe our Lord will be able to cast some light on it? It's no change I've heard of."

"I'm sure it's nothing," I said dismissively as we came to the throne room. I pulled away from my brother and straightened myself, the last thing I wanted was for Kain to think I had ridden straight from bed with some malady.

Kain was on his feet as soon as the doors had opened and I suddenly realised just how long it had been since he had seen me. I almost ran to his side, but he would never have forgiven me for such an obvious display of affection. I felt completely ashamed of myself for leaving as soon as I woke instead of seeking him out. As I neared the throne he took my hands in his own, "I'm so sorry," I didn't think I could apologise enough, "I should have come to you directly."

He sat me down beside him, "I should have been quicker, by the time the servant told me you were awake you'd gone. I was worried, you slept for months."

I was about to answer when I heard someone speaking directly behind us, "_You refused the sacrifice and your empire will crumble._"

I glanced behind us but could see no one.

"Meg?" Kain asked, "what is it?"

There was no one near us, no one who could be speaking, yet I could hear it plainly, "_Nosgoth will fall for your sins."_

"Can you hear that?" I asked him, "a woman? speaking?"

I don't think I had ever seen Kain look shocked. For a moment he was visibly shaken, "speaking what?" he asked, an edge in his voice that I had never heard before. I listened.

"_Why is it I who must suffer for your transgressions? Why must _I_ suffer for it_?" I repeated what she had said, Kain waved away anyone remotely close to us. Raziel, ever present ushered away the surrounding courtiers to a healthy distance and called for music to distract them.

"Is this the change then?" he asked me. My confusion must have shown on my face, I still had no idea what he was talking about. "You can hear the dead, child." He rolled his eyes, "Unfortunately."

I looked around myself, behind the balance pillar I saw a whisp of a dress dissapear behind it. "Who is she?" I asked Kain, convinced now that he shared my 'gift'.

"Her name is Ariel," he said, as though he'd rather not be having this conversation, "and believe me Meg you'll tire of hearing her soon enough. I've been listening to her for centuries and she's still banging out the same worn tirade. Needless to say, she doesn't like me much."

"_Your kind will meet its end foul creature_."

"I can tell," I said, surprised that in all the time we'd lived here Kain hadn't mentioned it. "Who is she."

For a moment it looked like he might tell me, then he clapped my hand and said, "Believe me it is a very, very long story." He brightened, "besides, we have other matters to attend to. Your brothers are gathering for a counsel, Turel and Rahab requested it."

"How bizarre," I mused. Turel and Rahab's lands were at opposite ends of Nosgoth, it "How so?"

"They want to block out the sun."

I laughed.

He didn't.

"You're not serious."

"Perfectly. Turel has started experimenting in some parts of his territories with furnaces. Some of the fledglings are dying as soon as they're being turned. As the younger vampires turn others the weaknesses in the brood are becoming far more pronounced than we could have imagine. We already have enough restrictions on turning humans, while you were asleep we even considered the idea of stopping anyone less than a century old turning someone. But nothing seems to make a difference."

He said it all as if it were all such a simple matter of fact, "so we're just going to block out the sun?"

"It's either that or we become nocturnal again and give the humans advantage in the day. If they were to rebel then a fine thing it would be to have half our armies unable to fight during the day."

"Surely you're not worried about the humans rebelling?" I asked in surprise. Every now and then the humans would attempt a revolution. It was usually a pathetic thing 'masterminded' by some jumped up slave. Sometimes they even got as far as the front door before they were cut down. The humans hadn't been a threat to us in centuries.

Kain shook his head, "of course not, but that does not mean I am about to hand them a victory on a plate. The human villages around Rahab are playing an odd game, raiding his palace. They can take nothing of value, I think they're just showing that they can get at him. His older children cannot tolerate the light and his fledglings are reduced to ash at even the dimmest rays."

"But where will the humans get their food from?" I asked, pragmatically, "They need to eat and we need them alive to feed ourselves. Surely we need the sun as much as they do? Without it Nosgoth will be reduced to waste!"

Kain nodded, but it was as if he were bored, as if he had had this conversation a dozen times already. Which he probably had, Raziel would no doubt have raised the same concerns, as would all the other brothers if they had any sense. Even Turel and Rahab had to realise the devastating effects of what they were proposing.

"We have plans in motion, Meg. The humans will not go wanting. We have set aside farms where the darkness we propose shall not reach. Zephon will have to give up some of his land for the cause, but he has agreed, eventually, to do so. His land is the furthest from Turel, food should still be able to grow there. All is at hand, child."

His tone implied annoyance. I had after all insulted his intelligence, as if Kain had not considered every possible implication such an act would incur. I nodded my assent, not that he needed it.

He had made his decision. And with Kain, all decisions were final.

We passed an easy afternoon in each other's company. Even before I fell into the change the Turelim coup had kept us apart. I had not forgotten their impudence and I kept a sword beside me. Despite his numerous entreaties to disarm myself I refused and I trusted him not to go as far as to order me. While we sat chatting, Raziel took charge of organising the hall around us, both of us were happily oblivious. It was almost a surprise to look around some time later and see in the subdued candle light the garlands of flowers that had been draped around the pillars and the clan banners that had been unfurled. Kain usually held a ball to welcome his sons. It was rare that we all got to get together like this and the night usually ended with most of us having feasted on a little too much intoxicated humans. For my brothers it was a chance to enjoy the revels as guests rather than hosts and they were rarely on their best behaviour. On these nights they were less Kain's lieutenants and more his sons and Kain, knowing that they needed the occasional wild night to break the monotony of their daily business, indulged them. These events were relatively private, Kain hated the humans to see what he considered weaknesses in his children and so only the most trusted servants were permitted to serve here.

"My Lord," Raziel called, interrupting our absorbing conversation but retaining a distance, "The musicians are almost ready to begin, if you'll excuse me I really must change for the evening."

Kain laughed, "Of course, of course, thank you Raziel. You have outdone yourself."

Raziel bowed himself out, a self satisfied smile all over his face, as his brothers started filtering in. Turel was the first to arrive, and unfortunately for me, his uncharacteristic concern had not gone away. I noticed Kain stiffen in his seat and fix Turel with the full power of his most dissatisfied stare, lesser men shrank from it and Turel, although approaching, kept to my side of the dais.

"My Lord," he said, affecting the deepest bow I had ever seen, "And sister, I am glad to see you recovered enough to join the festivities."

"Recovered?" Kain snapped, fixing his stare on me, "recovered from what?"

I glared at Turel, "just from the state of change," I lied, glibly, "he's just glad I'm awake." I was a terrible liar. Kain turned to Turel,

"Turel?"

"I found Meg in some distress on my way here, my Lord," he said innocently, as though shocked that I would even think of the lie.

Kain waved him away, which was just as well as I had launched at him a string of expletives, "thanks a lot, Turel." He sent me a sly grin, Turel always took what he could get, however petty. As far as he was concerned, this was just another way to direct Kain's displeasure away from him, however briefly.

"You didn't tell me Turel had to bring you back," Kain said when I had finished cursing my brother. "What happened?" I told him, but I kept it brief. I wanted to forget about the whole incident at the lake. I feared the screams would haunt me for a long time yet. Besides, my brothers were arriving and the last thing I wanted was to delay the festivities.

"I'm fine, I've been here with you for all this time and you know I'm fine. It was all just a bit, overwhelming."

Everyone was gathering around the dais, waiting for Kain to give the signal for the celebration to begin.

"I hear them too," he said, quietly to me, and rose, signalling to the musicians to begin, as he went to meet my brothers. I stayed where I was, for the moment I didn't feel like mingling.

"Meg," a voice said near my ear, I turned to see Melchiah standing behind the throne. I smiled, but it faltered when he stepped into the light. He looked terrible. The skin on the left side of his face looked as though it had been torn off. He had remedied it by patching what looked like human skin across the wound. "I know, I look terrible," he said with a wry smile.

"What in hell happened to you?" I gasped.

He shrugged, "the latest change unfortunately. If you think I look bad you should take a trip around my clan, we're falling apart, literally." I didn't know what to say, "I came to ask you," he continued, ignoring his newly acquired defect, "have you been out riding today?"

I looked at him puzzled, "Turel hasn't been at you too, has he?"

"Meg, you're filthy and this is a ball." I looked down, he was right, in my conversations with Kain I had completely forgotten that I was wearing the same clothes I went out in that morning. As Melchiah had pointed out, I was in no state to ornament the ball. "You wouldn't want to spend the night looking worse than I would you?" he said in good humour, though what it cost him to laugh at this monstrous development I'd never know. I kissed him affectionately on the cheek and slipped out of the side door to find something a little more suitable to wear.

When I returned the festivities were in full swing and my brothers were becoming rowdier as their comfort with each other grew. We were as we had once been, a family in complete accord. Even Zephon who had become the most suspicious of us all managed to have a good time. We even danced together, laughing as Raziel and Dumah amused us by waltzing beside us, as they were wont to do.

"We should do this more often!" Dumah roared at us, spinning Raziel into a graceful pirouette. Zephon rolled his eyes, unimpressed with his brothers' antics. Raziel and Dumah were usually the first to get boisterous.

I nudged my partner, "You should lighten up Zephon." He didn't laugh, this was about as 'lightened up' as Zephon got. He was paranoid in a way the others weren't. While they all guarded their borders carefully Zephon was becoming increasingly unstable, eyeing each infringement as a personal assassination attempt. Kain was becoming ever more wearied by his incessant claims against his brothers. Even as we danced he kept his eyes fixed securely on my dagger, lest I took the opportunity to kill him, as if Kain would allow such a thing in his sanctuary. At the end of the dance he left me to go and stand with some of his clan, watching events unfold. But from the way he leaned on the pillars and indulged some of the younger vampires with conversation I could tell that in his own way he was enjoying the evening.

The way Zephon had left me stranded on the dance floor without a partner had not gone amiss by Dumah and Raziel. "Meg has no partner!" Dumah cried, dramatically, looking around. My other brothers were otherwise occupied; Turel was impressing a small group of Dumahim, Rahab was twirling his current concubine around the floor and Melchiah was hiding in the shadows of the pillars with some others of his clan. Kain had for the moment had disappeared. "Azrael!" Raziel called. His faithful first born appeared beside us as though he had been there all along, "My sister has no partner! Entertain her for us," Dumah launched them into another dance and I was left to follow suit with Azrael who joined me in laughing at his master's delight.

"You're very good," I laughed, as Azrael finished another perfectly performed routine.

He shrugged, "Raziel likes us to impress, we are trained in dancing, music and all manner of entertainments better than we are in swordplay," he said with mock seriousness. "And besides," he hooked my waist and pulled me closer to him for a slow dance, "I have a need to impress such a beautiful partner." If Kain had seen him he would probably have smacked him down in his impudence, but he was seemingly elsewhere, so I was happy to blush in his arms and let him lead me for our fourth or fifth dance that evening.

The following morning when I woke, I was hardly surprised to find that I wasn't in my own bed. Azrael was still sleeping but even in sleep his arm tightened around me, possessively, as I tried to slip out. The sun was streaming outside, and even though Kain would make allowances for a late start after such an evening I liked to be awake early.

I made my way out of the Razielim quarter, hoping that I avoided Raziel, I didn't fancy having a conversation as to why he saw me leaving his firstborn's bedroom so early in the morning. "Is Lord Kain awake yet?" I called to the servant waiting outside of my suite, if he was confused as to why I was coming from the wrong direction he gave no indication of it.

"Not yet, my Lady," he replied, "but...I don't think he went to bed last night."

I stopped in my stride, "I'm sorry?" I asked.

The servant beckoned towards the door that led to Kain's rooms, "I was on night duty my Lady, he passed me once but then left in a hurry, he did not return my Lady."

"How bizarre," I mused, stepping past him through the door. "Kain?" I called to an empty corridor. There was no sign of life at all. In his chamber his bed was still made from the day before and his books lay untouched on his bedside table. The door to his dressing room was wide open though, as though flung open in a hurry. His clothes from the ball lay strewn across the floor and one of his riding outfits was gone. I recalled that from about half way through the night I had not seen Kain, though once I was paired with Azrael I had to admit not noticing much of anything else. I turned quickly, if he had gone somewhere he may have told someone in the stables where. As my hand closed around the door to leave I saw a note pinned to the back of it. Addressed to me for he knew his sons would know better than to come in here.

'_Don't follow me_.'

TBC

Author's note: Sorry this one's a bit slow, it starts getting interesting now :)


	25. The Absence

Chapter 25 – The Absence

(Megara)

Naturally I went to the stables anyway. Kain's favourite hunter was gone, he had gone somewhere, and at some speed. But what was I to make of his note? Kain had gone away in the past and left the running of the sanctuary to Raziel, but never at such short notice and _never_ without so much as a nod to me. It was odd, but I would, of course, obey him. The stable master told me that some Melchiham vampires had arrived in the evening and Kain had left shortly after with them. I made a note to ask Melchiah if he knew what was going on, if there were a problem in his lands Melchiah would have been the first to have been despatched.

I returned to the Razielim quarters, hoping that at least one of us had slept in a bed that was our own the night before. I did not fancy traipsing all over the sanctuary trying to find my brother. Thankfully he was there, sitting in bed, awake, alone and surprised to see me.

"Kain's gone," I said, without preamble, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"So close to counsel?" he asked, surprised, "shall we delay it?"

"I don't think he's coming back any time soon. I think we're supposed to go on without him."

Raziel nodded, "Where has he gone?" He looked like I had slapped him when I shrugged. "You don't know?" his surprise was obvious. While it wasn't the first time Kain had left it was the first time he hadn't told at least one of us either where he was going or at least when we could expect him back. "Well counsel is going to be fun," he said, pushing back the covers and disappearing into his dressing room. "I'll see you in the throne room," he called, I laughed. I was dismissed.

As I left his chambers I bumped into, of all people, his delightful first born, no doubt waiting an audience with his master. "Good morning," he said, coldly.

His tone surprised me, more so when I reached out to touch his arm but he drew away from me. "What is it?" I asked, bluntly.

He shrugged, "There's something about waking up in an empty bed I find distasteful. I hope I was an entertaining diversion," he added, "my Lady," and gave an exaggerated bow. I do believe if he thought for one moment he could have gotten away with it he would have struck me. Instead he snarled and made to step past me. I stepped to block his way, I hadn't expected him to be upset that I wasn't there when he woke. Actually...I hadn't thought about how he might feel at all.

"I'm sorry," I said, quietly, aware of our proximity to Raziel's rooms, "I didn't think."

He was waiting for me to continue, "you didn't think...?" he prompted.

"I didn't think, period. I'm sorry." I wrapped my arms around his waist, "and you were a bit more than a diversion." I leant up and kissed his cheek. He softened and kissed my forehead, before pulling right back from me, I was pleased to see that he, like me, wasn't about to publicise our activities to any passing servant. Raziel was on his way out towards the throne room, he was evidently surprised to find us in the corridor.

"Excuse me," I said, leaving them to their conversation. I knew what would be said, after all Raziel would have to remain at the sanctuary until Kain returned, so Azrael would be back at Razielim by the end of the day to run things there. Thinking on it, it was probably a good thing we had that awkward meeting, otherwise he would have left and things would have been forever tense between us.

(Kain)

_At last_.

(Megara)

Counsel was a dull affair. Turel had taken his usual offence that Raziel had been left in charge while Kain was gone and without Kain to keep him in check he was about as annoying as he could be, even though Raziel was for Turel's proposition, as he knew Kain was.

"How long will it take you to build the extra furnaces to produce the kind of smog you're talking about?" Raziel asked.

Turel reluctantly pointed to numerous locations on the large map before us, "We already have towers here, here and here, and we're building here and here, it should all be completed by the end of the month."

Raziel nodded and turned to Zephon, "how long will it take you to build the farms for the humans?"

"They're ready," he replied, surprising us all, something which brought a smug smile to his lips, "the first crops will take some months to yield, though."

"What about supply?" Dumah asked, "We'll need to build better roads if we're going to transport food in such volume across Nosgoth."

Zephon shook his head, "you want to build roads through my territory? You want me to give you all such easy access into my lands? I do not think so brothers."

Raziel held his hand up to quiet the immediate protests from the others, "Zephon, how exactly do you propose to transport the food without the roads?" Our younger brother fell silent. I could see his insecure mind whirring, trying to find a way to reconcile the need to create a transport hub in his lands while limiting the access given to his brothers. He excused himself and went to the edge of the room where he entered a deep discussion with his first and second born. When he returned some moments later, he seemed to have come to some kind of resolution with them, which probably meant bad news for the rest of us. "We will build the roads, but we are talking about building across the entire land, that will take some time."

Raziel nodded, "we better get started then hadn't we?"

It was the shortest counsel on record. Kain had obviously allowed it to go ahead for formality's sake as most of it seemed to have already been set in motion. "Should we not wait for Our Lord's decision?" Turel asked, he hated it whenever Raziel exercised his power as firstborn.

Raziel shook his head, "He approves, he may even return before it is all complete in which case if he objects we will still have decent roads." Even Turel had to laugh, Zephon remained silent. No doubt as soon as we adjourned he and his entourage would retreat into a corner, if we were lucky, the most they would do is decide on the odd act of sabotage. As they filtered out I called Melchiah back to ask him about Kain's disappearing act. Unfortunately it was obvious from the outset he had no idea what I was talking about. Though he did recall that Kain had recruited two of his clan during the campaigns but Melchiah had not seen them since nor did he know what task Kain had set them. In fact he was surprised that they were still in his employ, he had assumed them dead long ago. I had hoped that our conversation would shed at least some semblance of light onto the situation, though I should have known that Kain would not have been so easy to find.

The other brothers remained on for a week or so before they realised Kain was not coming back, and if he did, he would not thank them for waiting for him, leaving their affairs unattended for no good reason. Raziel and I watched them leave, naturally he would stay with me until Kain's return. "I'm capable of running this place on my own, you know," I reminded him as we watched Rahab disappear into the horizon. "Petitions are hardly the most taxing duty."

My brother gave a small shrug, "no doubt, but I wouldn't want you to get so terribly bored. Besides what is the point in being the eldest if I can't take charge whenever he goes on these little jaunts." I laughed, the idea of Kain taking 'little jaunts' sounded so casual and belied any concern we had for his unexpected departure. "Besides," he added, "I've already despatched Azrael home. The last thing I would want is to crash whatever parties he has planned in my absence." He did not fail to notice that I missed the joke, though he had no idea why. To be honest, neither did I, I was surprised at how suddenly disappointed I was that I had not gotten to see Azrael before he left. I made some glib comment in response so I would not be plied with questions as to why I had suddenly gone so quiet. I could tell that he was not to be fooled, but he remained blissfully silent anyway. He left me for the throne room where he would give the necessary commands so that all knew, for the time being, Raziel was in charge. With nothing to occupy myself with I went back to my chambers, deciding that I should probably finish one of the many volumes Kain had gifted me over the years.

Imagine my surprise to find my room carpeted in flowers. The room was an explosion of colour and the scent was positively intoxicating. Flowers of every kind adorned every conceivable space in my rooms and my face lit up, for a moment expecting to see Kain hiding behind a vase. There was a note pinned to one of the stems, with nothing on it but the crest of the Razielim. I smiled to myself, Azrael should be sent home more often if this was my recompense!

I sat admiring them for a long time, though flowers in Nosgoth never did last long once picked. Reluctantly after some days I gave the orders to clear them, increasingly aware as I did so, that that would be the last time I would ever be given fresh flowers.

For the first month Kain's mysterious disappearing act had us perplexed. The second month had us approaching something akin to worry. By the third month Raziel had stopped mentioning it as if that would somehow allow me to focus on other things. By the fourth month I had started going out of my mind with worry. I decided that if I had not heard anything soon then I would search for him. Raziel assured me that he would be fine, that no harm could have come to him and that we would just have to wait until he came back to find out what was going on. I knew he was right, of course, but that did nothing to put my mind at ease. Not even the very occasional letters from his attractive firstborn proved a welcome distraction. Nothing it seemed could prevent my mind entering a state of panic every time I noted Kain's constant absence.

Then, quite suddenly, something strange happened. As we entered the fifth month without Kain, both Raziel and I, sitting as we were in the throne room, were suddenly overcome with the most extreme feeling of despair. I sank to the ground and felt so utterly distraught. It was as though my life were ending. It lasted less than a moment but in that burst of feeling I think we felt more pain than we would encounter in a lifetime.

"What in hell was that?" Raziel snapped, visibly shaken.

He helped me back to my feet, "I don't know, I've never known anything like it. Do you think it was Kain?" I asked suddenly. I had no reason for thinking like that, nothing like that had ever happened to us, but I somehow knew that wherever he was Kain had felt something so utterly unthinkable that he must have lost control and in that moment we all felt it. I found myself crying bloody tears for the first time in centuries with no idea why I should be doing so. "That's it, I'm going," I said, pushing past my brother, "I don't care if I have to cross every square foot of this bloody land I'm going to find him."

Raziel tried to delay me of course. It was a stupid idea to think that I could somehow find Kain without any idea where to start looking. It's a good thing my idea came to nothing, had I gone through with it, it would have taken me years to find him, assuming of course that he chose to remain stationary. In the end as I was screaming at the poor stable master to get my rider ready we heard a shout from one of the watchmen that Kain had been sighted, riding hell for leather towards the sanctuary, by a Turelim patrol. Thank the dark Gods for the whisper.

I ran outside and despite the threatening rain, waited impatiently to see him return. Raziel sighed loudly from within the stables, "He'll get here when he gets here, Meg, there's no need to wait for him like a lost puppy." I ignored him and after just an hour of waiting I was rewarded.

I heard him before I saw him. The sound of his hunter's hooves were unmistakable and I could tell by the sound that the horse was being ridden almost to death. Even though he rode straight past me, I glimpsed that he seemed fine. He was at least physically uninjured and looked the same as when he had left. I ran into the stables behind him, the relief that flooded through me was enough to make me need to lie down. I felt giddy and light hearted, I was just so happy to see him. The feeling was apparently less than mutual, he had dismounted before I caught up with him and was practically running through the sanctuary without so much as a glance in my direction.

"Kain!" I shouted, struggling, even at a brisk jog to keep up with him, "Kain, what's wrong?" He ignored me, slamming his way through doors, heading for his private chambers.

"My lord!" I heard Raziel call from somewhere behind us.

"Go home Raziel!" Kain barked, in a voice I barely recognised. I actually felt Raziel shrink away from the venom evident in the command.

"Kain?" I called, in little more than a gasp, I didn't know what was happening. Or what had happened. "For the love of..." I shouted, "slow down!" I reached out to grab his shoulder, but as soon as my hand touched it I felt myself being thrown back. I barely recall Raziel shouting something as I experienced what it was like to fly for a brief moment before I came into contact, rather harshly, with the wall. My last, irrational thought before a burst of pain in my head caused me to lose consciousness was that Kain had at least retained his fabled psychic powers.

TBC


	26. Letter

Chapter 26 – Letter

"I was assured you were the best."

"My lord, I cannot do much more than this."

"I have seen you make Melchiah look almost presentable, surely you can do something more?"

"The damage is too severe, my Lord, Kain be praised I have managed to do what I have."

"It was Kain who did this to her..."

I could hear the voices arguing around me, but through the pain I couldn't recognise them. I tried to open my eyes but the faintest glimmer of light sent through me a spasm of pain so intense, I could not suppress the groan. "She's waking up again, knock her out will you?"

I felt a strong smelling rag press against my nose and I slept again.

_Kain? What happened? _

When I woke, some weeks later, the pain in my head had thankfully left me. Raziel was beside me reading something. "Morning," I said, struggling to find my voice.

"You're awake," Raziel said, the relief evident in his voice.

I pulled myself to sit up, it took a surprising effort on my part. "Where's Kain?" I asked.

Raziel hesitated, "he's in his chambers. He hasn't left them since he came back that day." I started to rise, "and he hasn't seen anyone or let anyone in since then either," he added.

I let myself fall back against the pillows, "what's wrong with him?"

He shrugged, "I honestly don't know. Every now and then I get a message from his steward telling me he wants me gone, then asking why I haven't left yet. But I wasn't about to leave you in the state you were in and he hasn't come out yet...Turel's in charge," he said quickly, before I could object, "I'll probably leave now that you're ok. But..." there was the hesitation again, "Meg, your injuries were...well they were bad. Very bad. You very nearly had your skull smashed in." He passed me a handheld mirror, I couldn't help but notice that it was face down so for the moment I couldn't see my reflection. "You took the biggest blow to the face, Meg." I understood what he was saying and with a deep breath I flipped the mirror over quickly before I changed my mind.

Oh.

It was as bad as he said it was. I barely recognised myself. I'd obviously taken the hit on my left side, my eye was a different shape to how I remembered it and my cheek was ugly and mangled. On the plus side having one side of my face scarred and marked made the other side seem prettier. I was silent for a moment, "Well at least I'll make Melchiah look good."

I could practically see the tension leave Raziel, he had no doubt been gearing himself up for an hysterical outburst. That would come later, but for the moment I think I was too shocked that Kain had done such a thing and yet not left his chamber to ask after me. I stared at myself for a long time, feeling oddly unaffected that my looks should have changed so. I remember for one ludicrous moment worrying whether Azrael would still find me attractive.

Raziel on the other hand was rising. "I think it's time I left," he said, "He doesn't want me here. I think I have provoked him enough already." He stopped at the door for a moment, "if only we knew who those Melchium messengers were." He winked at me and disappeared.

When Raziel had left me I found myself as angry as I'd ever been in my life. It probably wasn't the best idea to get up as quickly as I did, but I was livid, mostly at Kain, but with him locked in his rooms with apparently no way to get to him unless I wanted the other side of my face ruined, there was nobody I could take it out on.

Well...almost nobody.

I found myself, after a brief but satisfying trip to the cellars to restore my strength, marching down corridors I had never had much use for in my time at the sanctuary. The men still knew me, they stood to attention as I passed, but their gawking faces betrayed how unusual it was to find me stalking these parts. I was looking for one man in particular, unfortunately my infrequent visits, well let's be honest, I had never visited him, meant that it took me longer than I thought to actually find his chambers.

The key to Kain's domination of Nosgoth, even of his own sons, was in the detail. Not a thing happened in his empire without his knowledge. Not a vampire was made that he was not aware of and no one was assigned a duty that he did not know about. Even my brothers sometimes wondered aloud how Kain could possibly know _everything_ that occurred. It emphasised his reputation as some kind of God that he clearly had some kind of foresight that allowed him to know the placement of every person in his realm.

The less than glamorous reality of course was just good record keeping. Kain kept meticulous records during the campaigns ensuring a quick resolution to each skirmish. Now even in such an empire with no significant threats the sanctuary housed a lesser known library devoted entirely to these documents. While my brothers' children were loyal to them, Kain had spies in every court who reported to his stewards. Every time a human was turned or a vampire promoted his name found his way onto one of many lists and Kain himself could pass hours studying the lists, knowing to a man how many troops his sons commanded. I had never ventured this way, after all I had never had the need.

The man in question was a Zephonim vampire. One of Zephon's children had turned him against his will and somewhat prematurely in an assault on Avernus Cathedral. Kain had been angry that the gift was becoming so diluted and rather than watch a vampire wrestle with the implications of his own existence gave him a position as the head of this little department. It suited his bookish nature and he had come to love the figures and tables. The fact that he was so out of the way of the other vampires was an added bonus in his eyes.

I eventually found his rooms. The man himself was sat behind a desk, surrounded by bookshelves that contained leaves upon leaves of papers. "My lady!" he exclaimed, a swift double take took in the state of my face, "it's not often we see you in these parts."

I was in no mood for preamble, my long search had not abated my anger, "I'm looking for two Melchium."

"Might I suggest Melchiah's territory?" he said with a small laugh, the smattering of human clerks around him chuckled, no doubt it was an old joke. I sighed and leaned over the desk, easily lifting the man by his throat a few inches off his seat, just to demonstrate my point. "Two Melchium," he said, quickly, "Allow me." I dropped him, he shook himself down but carried on, "Do you know their names?"

I shook my head, "I know Melchiah thought they were dead." The Zephonim froze but I pressed him, "I know that our lord recruited them before the campaigns, and I know that nobody seems to know who they are." I could hear the denials and excuses on his tongue before he could muster the wit to utter them, "I _know_ you know who I'm talking about. I think they've completed whatever mission Lord Kain set them on and now they've no doubt been reassigned to some cushy part of the territories. I want to know where."

He would deny me even then. I could see him weighing up whether he should protest or not. He must have known that had he done so I would have found them, it would just have been a far more painful process, for him at least.

"As a matter of fact, Lord Kain did recently reassign two Melchium gentlemen," he said, as though he had just thought of it. He leafed through a volume beside him. I could see it was the current record of assignments. Every page was filled with names, their previous assignments and their current location. There must have been thousands of these volumes alone somewhere within this library. He stopped at the more recent entries and read, "yes, the two of them are now serving on guard duty."

"Where?" I demanded, when he seemed to stop offering information.

He looked puzzled, his mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally said, "I'm not exactly sure."

I spun the volume around so I could read it. He pointed out the two men in question, I noticed their 'previous assignment' was an ambiguous 'services to the empire'. Their current assignment was listed as guard duty, the location simply written (in Kain's hand I noted) 'the graveyard.'

I stared at it for a moment. "The graveyard? I didn't know we still had any," I muttered. We had little respect for the human dead, I was unaware that we still had any graveyards. The Zephonim was consulting a map.

"I'm afraid I can't find it my lady, I don't know of any graveyard which requires a sentry," the Zephonim stammered, no doubt afraid that I was about to get angry again.

"Why would a graveyard..." I broke off, suddenly, "Oh of course," I breathed, leaving the Zephonim to his books. I knew exactly which graveyard he was talking about. The only one that he would want to keep in any way hidden from the general populace.

It was difficult to get to, even though it was attached to the sanctuary and required no travelling on my part. I headed towards the back end of the sanctuary, a rather more neglected place. Sometimes I forgot just how large my home was. There was nobody around here, human or vampire. The chambers were filled with random pieces of junk that we had accumulated and with no good use for them allowed to gather dust in the back rooms. The halls were not maintained, parts of the walls were falling away to reveal the elements beyond. I stumbled a few times and got lost on more than one occasion. But eventually I recognised the familiar nausea that came over me, even though I could not see the graveyard. I had arrived at the Sarafan tombs that Kain had desecrated an age ago to resurrect his sons. He had never told them of their origins. I don't know why but I assumed it would have just caused more unrest among the humans and possibly even the fledglings to know that they were remade from the vampires greatest enemies. At best I thought my brothers would be disinterested. The entire tomb had been enclosed in a new structure to make it a distant part of the sanctuary, sure enough there was a recently constructed sentry post nearby and I could hear some small activity from within.

"Attention!" I shouted at the building and watched with satisfaction as the two smart Melchium officers, barely recognisable as the kin of those who now struggled to hold their flesh together, hurried out of their post and lined up in front of me. They were in full uniform, armed and with their heads bowed in suitable deference. "Very good," I heard myself complement, as though I were just putting them through their paces.

"Can we help you, m'lady?" one of them asked.

I paced, slowly, before them, "I want to know where Lord Kain went with you." They exchanged shocked glances, "Don't look to each other," I snapped, impatiently, "I know Kain went somewhere with you and I know that the two of you have landed quite the cushy option down here. What did you show him? What was your mission?"

They were silent.

"You can assume that to be an order, gentlemen," I said, angrily, but they would not answer me.

One of them spoke confidently, "with respect m'lady, we take our orders directly from Lord Kain."

I threw my hands up, exasperated, "Lord Kain is at this very moment locked in his chambers, neglecting his duties and leaving the entire land in the hands of Turel of all people! I suggest you answer me, I would not want to hurt you taking the information by force."

They both exchanged glances again. I all but felt them weighing up whether they wanted to test my theory, but my reputation was well known and they must have known that I had the power to rip a thought from their mind should I choose too. It was not something I had had to engage in often, so much so that where Kain could probe a mind without his victim noticing, I could only do it with a clumsy and ferocious skill that left the other person traumatised. It worked well during the campaigns as both a form of intelligence and torture, but I had had little use for it since.

"We don't know what it was, my lady," the other said, quickly, "you have to believe us we were never told exactly what we were looking for. Lord Kain said that it had once belonged to the time streamer of legends. We never expected to find it, it took us decades."

"Time streamer?" I asked, confused, "what has he to do with this?"

"Lord Kain said that at one time the time streamer had an abode from which he could manipulate time, we were sent to look for it."

"And you found it where?" I prompted.

They both hesitated again, but one eventually answered, "we cannot tell you that my lady. He told us not to reveal our mission to anyone..." he trailed off. I saw that they were resolved. And so I took the knowledge anyway, leaving one of them screaming on the ground while his companion attended him. Any guilt I felt was easily assuaged by the knowledge that soon I would see what had driven Kain to what I tentatively termed 'madness'. Besides, if they had told me without such persuasion then they would have suffered far more at Kain's hands. Poor guys. They were only doing their jobs. Didn't make me any less pissed though.

I found my way back to the sanctuary and had my horse readied. I could picture the location of whatever it was Kain wanted to find quite clearly, but I knew that if I did not act now, then I'd forget and I don't think the watchmen could stand up to another one of my interrogations.

The ride was a revealing one. I hadn't realised that the landscape of the land could have changed so much in less than a year. But sure enough there were villages where there had been none, there were new roads, and even signposts. The borders were clearly marked and I noticed that many of the newer villages were as close to the borderlines as they could manage, no doubt filled with watchmen and soldiers. It did mean that I was soon quite lost, the apparent theme of the day. I was used to vast expanses of nothingness, I could point my horse in the direction of where I needed to be and eventually end up there. Now I had to negotiate the new roads which took me to places I had never seen before and I was obliged to ask a young human for directions. He eagerly pointed me in the direction I needed to go and he was rewarded with a smile which he seemed to appreciate even with my smashed visage.

I eventually found my way to the location I had ripped from the Melchium's mind. A remote location somewhere in the mountains, between Dumahim and Turelim. It seemed to be a cave but I recognised small markings from the pillar of time that stood in the throne room. What little I knew of Moebius came from the tales Kain had told me. I knew he was the old guardian of time, before Kain had ended his miserable life. His treachery was the subject of legends among us, as was Kain's eventual triumph over him. I found my way inside, with some difficulty, had I not seen the image beforehand I certainly would not have found it. It looked as though some damage had been done quite recently, possibly by Kain, to disguise the entrance.

Inside there were corridors everywhere, it was made all the more confusing by the fact that I had no idea what this place was or why Kain had been there. I could hear a faint humming though so without much idea of what I was doing, I headed in that direction.

There were strange panels along the walls that seemed to swirl as I stared at them. Some of them started to show me some strange things. They showed me scenes from what I could only assume was my future, though some of them could have been my past or even recent present. It was somewhat comforting to see myself in numerous panels standing beside the throne, my future didn't hold much variation for me at least. But then one of the panels showed me myself outside. I wouldn't have recognised the landscape as Nosgoth. The grass was ravaged, the sky was black and everything just looked dead. If I had to guess I would have said that a fire had hit the land killing everything. I looked at it in shock wondering what could have happened to choke the land of life.

And then I found the source of the humming and I saw it. I saw, in horror, what Kain had saw. One of the panels, as if on repeat, showed a scene of what was no doubt the future. It showed Raziel being flung into the abyss. I wish I had never come, over and over again it showed Raziel falling from the cliff, cast in by the hands of his brothers and hitting the waters with sickening force. I knew why Kain had run, what had caused that feeling of absolute distress. The only reason my brothers would dare to have done such a thing, was if Kain had commanded it.

Kain had ridden like the devil to get back to the sanctuary, to hide himself away from those terrible images. I on the other hand rode as though to my own funeral. I did not spur my horse on, content to let him wander in whatever direction took his fancy. If Kain felt anguish, I felt numb. He had no doubt knew of the time streaming chamber and wanted to see how the empire panned out. My mind was racing through possible scenarios, how could Raziel possibly come to such an end? I simply could not grasp what could have happened. What could loyal Raziel have done to have warranted punishment or worse, why could Kain not have forgiven him? Kain had executed many, many traitors in the abyss, I remembered him having to pass sentence on a Turelim that had been particularly useful in the campaigns but had had a surprising change of heart and faced his watery punishment accordingly. Kain had been puzzled throughout the ordeal, it was the first time we had executed a vampire and for what? But he had also been shocked, shocked that one of his own could turn at him and I think somewhere in that largely unfeeling soul of his he was hurt. Doing such a thing to Raziel would destroy them both.

I let my horse carry me away. Eventually I found myself drifting back into the village that I'd passed through on my way to the time streaming chambers. Not that I noticed at the time. At the time I didn't notice anything, not where I was or where I was going. I was so numb I just didn't want to think anymore.

The young man who directed me greeted me, but noticed that I was clearly in distress. He took the horse and led me back to the sanctuary. I barely noticed until he nudged me, "My Lady, we're at the sanctuary."

I glanced around me, I had no recollection of the journey. I don't remember even thinking. It was as if my mind had just shut down. I thanked the youth, told him to stick around and later, when I was finished with my moping I rewarded him by making him my steward, much to the consternation of my vampire servants. For the moment I went straight to Kain's chambers which were locked, bolted and generally sealed. Until that moment I didn't even know Kain had locks, it wasn't as if anyone would dare to enter his chambers without permission anyway. I knocked the door without expecting an answer. I didn't get one so I kept knocking. Kain was not the most patient person so I just kept up a constant stream of knocking, knowing that he would tire of it long before I got bored.

He held out longer than I thought he would, but inevitably the doors flung open and he glared at me with a cold fury I'd not seen him wear for many a decade. He faltered when he saw my face, I saw his grip on the door handle tighten until the handle crumbled beneath his strength.

"Who hurt you?" he demanded, harshly.

"You did," I said, quietly. Before he could react I pushed myself against the door before he could slam it on me. It was the first time we had ever had even a vaguely physical confrontation, even the sentries couldn't help but stare. "I found the streaming chamber," I called to him. Immediately I felt the door give, he had moved away. I slammed the door behind me and joined him on the underside of the couch he was sitting on. The couch was upside down, in fact the entire room was a mess.

"So..." I said, "I can see why you might not want Raziel around you right now."

"How much did you see?" he asked. He could not look me in the eye.

"Not much," I admitted, though his question scared me. How much did I need to see to know what had happened, "Enough," I said, finally.

We fell into an uncomfortable silence, "Lucky you," he said after a while. Another silence, "did you see what became of Nosgoth?" I nodded. "I failed," he said, grimly, "all of these years I thought I was going to restore balance but all the time the world was just becoming more and more corrupt." I couldn't answer him, mostly because I had no clue as to what he was talking about. Frankly I was astounded that he was more concerned with this than what I had witnessed for Raziel. "It seems Moebius will get the last laugh after all."

I don't think he was talking to me, he was lost in his own thoughts. "What about Raziel?" I asked.

"Ah. Raziel," he said, distantly, "is everything I have built destined to crumble around me?" He rose again, "I may have been a little premature in my departure, I haven't got the answers I sought."

I rolled my eyes, "so you came home to trash the place and now you're going back again?" I asked in disbelief.

Kain nodded, "it seems I let my emotions get the better of me," he traced a claw across my damaged cheek, "I am sorry, Meg." I leaned against him and he held me for a while, comforting me in a way I had not needed since I was a fledgling, still afraid of the dark.

"Well," I said, trying to make light of the situation, "we all go a little crazy sometimes."

This time it was Kain's turn to roll his eyes and he released me. "I shall return to the time streamer's chamber and try and see something I have missed. This time without needing to return here to destroy my chambers," he added with a ghost of a smile. "This time, do _not_ follow me."

I nodded, dutifully, having no intention of ever heading in that direction again. "Shall I recall Raziel?"

"No," came his quick reply, "leave Raziel where he is." Kain paused at the door, "and if you could do something with this," he waved his hand over the destruction he had caused in his outbursts, "I would appreciate it."

"Oh thank you," I said, sarcastically. He looked back at me on his way out and for a moment he smiled. Then his eyes fell on the damage he had done to me and the smile vanished, soon, so did he.

TBC


	27. Turel

Chapter 27 – Turel

My claws tapped a rhythm against the throne. Then I stopped. Then I began again. Such was my entertainment for the day. I could see the Rahabim sentry closest to me practically begging me to cease, indeed I would have been happy too, it was annoying me just as much as it was frustrating him. But I had simply nothing to do.

With Kain gone, the days seemed to drag. Normally Raziel and I would find some amusements to divert ourselves, but Turel was not in the mood for entertaining. He was determined to prove that he would make a competent ruler in Kain's stead and as such threw himself thoroughly into the role. His preparations put even Raziel to shame, who had known the sanctuary well enough to allow business to continue as usual and only intervened when he felt he needed to. Otherwise he was happy to let everything carry on around him and deal with the many petitioners when they came. Turel was certainly more hands on but it didn't half make life dull. I found myself wondering how the Turelim staved off the tedium, as Turel clearly did not hold court.

I usually stayed away from the throne room, Turel was not as willing as his elder brother to share the responsibilities of governance. When I did find myself there my presence was unwelcome and I rarely stayed for long. Right now Turel was occupied elsewhere in the sanctuary, I had thought that a small stint on the throne might give me something to do. But the room was devoid of life, save for the sentries that stood rigid to attention. My brother had obviously dealt with the petitioners already. And it was still early.

I think Turel thought that there was more to it than there actually was, but he still did not behave as though he were holding court here. Many of those who gathered at the sanctuary for the simple reason it was the hub of activity drifted in the direction of Dumahim where they were guaranteed a good party every now and then. They would return when Kain did and pretend that they had never left.

Turel oversaw, albeit from a distance, the construction of the new roads and started drawing up distribution plans for the crops that the Zephonim farms would yield. There was no guarantee of course that Kain would approve the plans or utilise them but he worked so very hard on them anyway. During Turel's tenure only two things of any interest occurred and both of them were rumours and so hardly of any substance.

I was with Turel in his chamber, probably trying to persuade him to hold a ball, or summon musicians or do something anything remotely entertaining, when one of his own came and told him that he had heard that some of our servants were leaving for the surviving human villages. Turel shrugged, "there are always rumours like this."

I agreed, "if there were any surviving villages then we would have found them by now."

The messenger was most insistent but both Turel and I dismissed his concerns. The humans were always starting rumours about greener pastures. The truth was we did know that humans sometimes fled the empire. We did not know where they went but they could not have established any significant settlements without our notice so we imagined they either died or came back to us. Certainly Kain believed that the odd small human village would be good for us, both for sport and for new recruits in the future if some pox were to strike one of the territories. These were always extremely small settlements, sparsely populated and easily wiped out if they started to attract too many of our servants. The servants' quarters were rife with this sort of rumour, it was nothing to take seriously. I gave (with Turel's approval) the orders for the perpetrators of the rumours to be found and whipped.

The second rumour Turel dismissed just as quickly. Apparently these humans had been acquiring weapons. "They're building some kind of weapon in Zephonim." We stared at him, "I am serious," he assured us, "I heard they're building a huge weapon there."

We both stared at him. The idea that they were building something on the scale he was suggesting was ludicrous, but I was wary. It was unusual for the rumours to mention a specific location. The rumours were supposed to be inspirational, naming such a specific location gave us too much opportunity to quash it, "Maybe you should send someone to investigate?" I suggested, but Turel disagreed.

"They wouldn't dare."

I rolled my eyes, "no they probably wouldn't but shouldn't we at least make sure? We don't want them to think that we're just willing to overlook potential threats."

Turel was adamant, "I am not going to waste my time investigating something that is obviously so ridiculously untrue."

He turned away from me, effectively dismissing me, and occupied himself with some dispatches that had come from Razielim, "Raziel hasn't asked my permission for this," he muttered absent mindedly, but I would not be drawn.

"Turel, we cannot ignore this. It's ludicrous of course, but if we don't at least send someone to just ask around then it might suggest complacency. It's not a matter of what's actually a threat! If we ignore this we'll be sending out a message that says we don't..."

"Enough!" he snapped, his eyes blazing, "I have made my decision Megara, we are not going to investigate these rumours. Now I have much more pressing concerns to deal with, I suggest you let me be." The messengers around us were stepping back aghast, I had never been dismissed before. I stared at my brother in disbelief, but spun around, stalking out of his presence chamber and slamming the door hard behind me. A gratifying chunk of the ceiling fell down as a result of the force.

Smiling I returned to my chambers, "Robin!" I called to my human steward, the one who had helped me return to the sanctuary. I liked him, I liked him a lot. He was obviously in awe of me but he served me well, with more respect than I garnered from many of my vampiric servants. He came now when I called him, eagerly awaiting my commands, "Robin I need you to go for a wander and bring me the first Zephonim commander you see. I'm sure there must be a couple of them about."

Robin nodded, "At once, mistress," he said, jumping to fulfil my orders immediately. I left my servants to their duties, retiring to my inner chambers where I would not be disturbed until Robin returned. I settled myself at my desk and glanced down at the sheath of letters that had been delivered that morning. Most of them I would have to turn over to Turel, he had commanded that all matters of business would go through him. Of course this did not stop the almost constant communications I had with my brothers' first borns who frequently wrote to keep me informed and seek advice. It was easier to get a response out of myself than from Kain, so they relied on me for their information even in defiance of Turel's orders. It was a small action, more in protest of the absolute control Turel was seeking rather than an actual act of sabotage. They knew that I would pass on their letters anyway, well almost all of them. Azrael wrote to me always, but never seeking advice. Raziel was close enough at hand to never need to ask what was happening in the sanctuary. Azrael wrote kind words of affection, it was strange to think that for all that we were, Azrael missed me. I kept his letters secured in my room, Turel did not need to know about this. Raziel didn't know. I doubted I would even tell Kain. I read over once more his restrained endearments, he wrote as though I were a cornered animal he did not want to scare away, ever gentle and tender, without actually committing himself to anything. It was masterfully done, no more than I would expect from the best of my brothers' broods. I had just started composing my equally masterful reply when Robin returned, rather more quickly than I had anticipated. He had done well, I thought as I joined them in my receiving room, he had brought the highest ranking Zephonim currently in residence.

"My lady," he said, politely, bowing deeply, "You summoned me?"

"Thank you Robin," I said, briskly, dismissing my steward and gesturing for the Zephonim to sit. "I have heard an interesting rumour, sir." I said. Instantly I noticed he was on his guard, he stiffened against me, "The humans, they are apparently building some sort of weapon in your master's territory."

"Nonsense, my lady," he said, smoothly. I had not known 'til then how adept the Zephonim were at lying. "Such a thing could not occur. We would wipe them out before they had finished the thought." I knew he was lying. How I could not say. If it were any of my other brothers they would have laughed it off, indeed a Dumahim would have rolled on the floor with laughter at the humans presumption. This Zephonim was too calm, too composed, his answers to readily on his tongue to make him sincere. He was hiding something and that in itself was worrying. If the humans were building a weapon to wipe us out, why would the Zephonim be supporting them?

"Indeed," I said, feigning a smile, "Well I am glad to hear it. My Lord Turel and I had not given it much credence, I was just curious, we shall have the perpetrators whipped of course." I gestured that he could leave me. I did not want him to know I had seen the lie, though who could say what he would pass on to his master.

"My lady," the commander said, smiling at me. He bowed once more and was gone. I sat there for a while longer, listening to the sounds of Robin tidying my rooms beyond the doors. For the first time, perhaps in my entire existence I felt alone. Kain was gone, Raziel practically banished and Turel was determined not to listen to me. That Zephon knew about a potential weapon I had no doubt, to what end I could not say.

"Tia!" I called, suddenly. One of my vampiric servants was at my feet in moments. "Go to the stables, get the groom to ready my hunter," I said, "quickly," I added in an undertone. Her eyes widened, she sensibly realised that if I was willing to dash out then something was very wrong. And it was. Something was going on and I was stuck in the sanctuary, the centre of Nosgoth with the only idiot who wasn't willing to listen. I needed to get out of there, I would go to Razielim, Raziel would listen. I paused as I changed into my riding clothes. I was kidding myself. I was worried and my first thought was to go to Razielim but it was not to see my brother. I dropped my head into my hands at the implication.

Maybe I would tell Kain after all.

I did not get as far as I'd hoped. Of all people Turel was waiting for me at the stables. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

I smirked, "I thought you'd be happy to have some space. I'm bored," I said, honestly, "I thought I'd check in with the others." I saw his brow furrow, "I thought I might join the never ending Dumahim party," I said, lightly.

He rose, he did not look happy. Not that he ever did, but he looked worse than usual. "And you decided to question the Zephonim why?"

I sighed. That he knew was not surprising, that he knew so quickly was. "I was just asking a question Turel."

"I had already made my decision on this matter, why did you think you could follow it up?" he was more than angry.

"I don't answer to you, Turel," I snapped.

"You answer to Kain and you answer to Raziel when they're here. I give the orders for now and I expect you to follow them as if it were them."

I threw my hands up, exasperated, "Turel, they're hiding something! I really don't think..."

"Please don't change the subject," he said, he had a thing for interrupting me it seemed. "I gave orders I expect them to be obeyed. Kain left me in command, Meg, even Raziel answers to me for the moment. And I really can't have you undermining that." He drew out a sheath of letters, "I also asked you to hand over the letters from the others. I see you kept the Razielim ones back."

I swiped for the letters and pulled them out of his hand, "I passed on all the letters of importance, _these_ are not for your eyes."

His eyes narrowed, "So I see."

"How did you get these?" I demanded.

Turel shrugged, "I have my methods. This is a letter from Rahabim," he said, ignoring me, "it says that Rahab has entered the state of change. It is my wish that you supervise there until he wakes or Kain returns and recalls you."

I stared at him for a time. Time had stopped for me. "You're banishing me?" I gasped, "_you_ are actually going to banish _me_?"

He rolled his eyes at me, "I am not banishing you Meg, I just think it best, if for the moment you and I have some space. This is my chance," he said. It was an afterthought, quiet, barely more than a whisper, "It's always been Raziel and now this is my turn, it might be the only chance I get to show what I can do. I cannot do that if you insist on undermining my authority. You are going to Rahabim, sister, and you are not to have any contact with the others on matters that concern me." I couldn't speak, I was afraid that if I did I would curse him into oblivion, "Be glad it was Rahabim," he muttered, "It could have been Melchium...or my lands." I ripped the letters up into pieces out of sheer frustration and threw them at him, turning on my heel and taking my horse's reigns. Without another word to him I jumped up into the saddle and turned my horse away. The hooves threw up dirt and dust over him and I heard him cough as I rode out of the sanctuary. I was livid, more so as I realised as I headed in the direction of Rahabim, because as much as I hated it, I realised not so very deep down, Turel was right.


End file.
